In America, bragging is considered perfectly OK.
Remember when most people thought Marion Barry was too much of a joke to become mayor of Washington D.C. and then he went and did it anyway?
That’s what’s happening with Donald Trump and the presidency. Americans
will respond positively to anything, even if its a sleeping pill that includes
10 minutes of warnings about side-effects that include danger of death, and erections lasting more than 24 hours.
Remember when most people thought Marion Barry was too much of a joke to become mayor of Washington D.C. and then he went and did it anyway?
That’s what’s happening with Donald Trump and the presidency. Americans
will respond positively to anything, even if its a sleeping pill that includes
10 minutes of warnings about side-effects that include danger of death, and erections lasting more than 24 hours.
12
TO compare DT to WJBryant is a comparison that is flattering to Trump. WJB was one of the heroes of his time, a man of unimpeachable integrity, who opposed the trusts, the gold standard, and US imperialism. He was the champion of the common man,whose fellowship he preferred to the company of the high and mighty. So, for Stanton to try to degrade DT by equating him with WJB,one of the few honest men ever to seek the presidency, is nonsensical. HLMencken was the urbane,, sophisticated journalist making fun of a "country bumpkin,"which was unfair, but STANTON needs to do his research more carefully. HL MENCKEN was an isolationist who never forgave FDR for involving us in the Second World War, and was an anti Semite to boot.
7
Bryan was known as the "boy orator of the Platte [River]". It was pointed out that the Platte is six inches deep and two miles wide at the mouth.
8
The repub party was purged of any moderates, clearing the way for domination by its worst instincts that we see flowering now. It's aided by the establishment media, and by our racial history used by repubs to gain power.
Trump Trash is inevitable---all the elements of our big money politics, media infotainment news leads to it.
Thus part of the solution is to reverse citizens united to bring new progressive elements into US politics, and to and break up media monopolitis--that's a contagious disease weakening our democracy.
Trump Trash is inevitable---all the elements of our big money politics, media infotainment news leads to it.
Thus part of the solution is to reverse citizens united to bring new progressive elements into US politics, and to and break up media monopolitis--that's a contagious disease weakening our democracy.
5
Pandering to basic instincts is a surefire way to win. And who knows it better than the obnoxious DON, who TRUMPS above all his fellow Candidates. You abhor the Man but cannot stop yourself from cheering his gumption to bring out the worst in you. Shame on us, for infecting everyone with the Don Virus.
5
I still think Donald Trump is only one side of a coin, which could not exist without the other side: a total lack of viable Republican candidates (or ones which could be perceived as viable by Republicans). One decent candidate--even a Bob Dole, much less a Colin Powell--might right this sinking ship. When faced with a batch of unelectable, totally personality-free losers who can't even lie well, much less cover up their debt to their 1% masters, even respectable conservatives might well react by picking a deconstructive outsider who's as much a parody of Republican talking points as a representative of them.
17
This fabricated "prejudice and disdain" that the right speaks of while shielding the highest earners from paying taxes on their full earnings is the most most amazing slight of hand I have ever seen.
11
Without an willing constituency Trump would have been done 6 months ago. The audience he is appealing to didn’t pop out of nowhere. Its sense of grievance has been carefully nurtured and cultivated by decades of conservative propaganda, which has diligently pointed its resentment downward at scapegoat groups like blacks, Muslims, and Hispanic immigrants, rather than upward at the wealthy bosses who profited by shipping jobs overseas. As their one trick pony economic plan, trickle down, flat lined and thinking Americans discovered the republican charade the GOP had to cultivate the xenophobic, religious, racist, fringes, and gin up a gun culture divide to augment their dying constituency and stake out military allegiance, even as they vote to abandon veterans with each new budget. They have replaced real American ideals and patriotism with flag waving and tough talk. They shamelessly advocate the dumbing down of the populace. Their willingness to destroy the America they yearn to take back, and in doing so place our once proud nation in a pack of also rans, continues to perplex and astound. It is in this naiveté that undercut Obama’s 2 terms and bamboozles the press day in and day out. The GOP stalwarts trying now to derail the Donald, prepared the path for his assent over the past 3 decades that he was smart enough seize the opportunity to feed his narcissism is the genie they can’t get back in the bottle.
22
What is most interesting about Trump is that he is nearly identical to his current contenders and the leaders of both parities in almost every way, a member of our greedy egotistical few percent business owner nobility that have almost infinite contempt for the "common man". The same except for the fact that occasionally, just occasionally he distinguishes himself by telling the truth. After all it is a mathematical certainty that when you have many 100's of thousands coming across our southern border illegally from countries that our news media says have 100's of reported 10 year old girl pregnancies a year then of course it will be true that we will end up with many Hispanic rapists in this country. The voting public see the reported rape cases and the Latin perpetrator sure names in their papers on a daily basis for Pete's sake! Then of course it is insanity to import millions of people from countries and cultures we are at war with into this nation. And then as Trump suggests its plain stupid for our know nothing political leaders to feign surprise when many of their imported Islamists- when they can't get a good job, don't become media celebrity martial artists, or can't get a blond girl friend ... do a teenage like suicidal rebellion and do a tantrum dramatic Jihad act in order to gain some measure of undeserved public attention.
6
I attend a fairly selective NE college and when talking to friends about Christmas, we all had something in common: highly educated left-leaning family chatting up Donald Trump. I believe Mr. Trump's support runs far deeper than any of the media will acknowledge.
16
The thing is, his support can as easily be reversed. No one is talking about his hypocrisy. His tax policy is designed the same people who support him. And his business interests all over the world benefit him but not the American worker.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2015/08/17/trump-the-hypocrit...
http://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2015/08/17/trump-the-hypocrit...
2
Gee, I wonder how the authors would characterize the viral nature of the "hand's up, don't shoot" movement, which was based on a complete lie. Hatred? Check. Anger? Check. An 'us versus them' mentality? Check. Politicians willing to demagogue on the issue? Check. An absolute indifference to the false nature of the narrative? Check. See, Republicans can play this game, too.
18
He'll never hold public office. His past is full of mob connections and corruptions. The question readers have for you is why you have refused to ask him about it?
5
Mobbed up? Corruption monger? So? Sheldon Adelson, owner of several Trump GOP competitors, scores top of the heap in both categories. HRC & hubby Bill do rather well in the corruption department.
Only Bernie Sanders stands alone as the candidate of lifelong integrity.
Only Bernie Sanders stands alone as the candidate of lifelong integrity.
7
What goes viral also reflects our tendency to be sheep-like; to jump on the bandwagon, and to fear of missing out which can develop into a full blown phobia known as FOMO that keeps us, for example, tied to our cell phones or even to a Donald Trump.
3
The writer summed up Trump very well "He is the living embodiment of the saying “All publicity is good publicity.” In his 1987 book “The Art of the Deal,” he showed just how canny his strategy of being the most outlandish person in the room was."
Donald knows how to build and promote his NAME-BRAND. He'll be able to capitalize on it for many years to come -- unless he has the misfortune of being nominated then elected POTUS ... in which case his empire will crumble. (Terrorists will target everything with the Trump Name and that means targeting and killing millionaire golfers etc by the dozens until nobody wants to be associated with the name TRUMP).
Donald knows how to build and promote his NAME-BRAND. He'll be able to capitalize on it for many years to come -- unless he has the misfortune of being nominated then elected POTUS ... in which case his empire will crumble. (Terrorists will target everything with the Trump Name and that means targeting and killing millionaire golfers etc by the dozens until nobody wants to be associated with the name TRUMP).
3
I fully understand and appreciate the doubtful cynicism that many people have toward a Trump Presidential candidacy. Most of us know by now that Trump's politically incorrect message…however crude and unpolished as it may be…resonates truth with many sincere & well-meaning voters. But whether you agree with Trump or not, he represents a BOLD and refreshing departure from what we've been hearing for so long and from so many politicians...on both sides of the aisle, no doubt!
If Trump ultimately drops out...and if one of the other candidates emerges as the standard-bearer for the GOP (e.g., Rubio, Fiorina), then that person must be ready, willing and able to continue Trump's cogent message on ILLEGAL immigration, border security, etc., without backing down from the knee-jerk, “politically correct media bullies”, nay-sayers and Hollywood pop-culture.
It seems that the mainstream media’s goal is to dictate HOW and WHAT you should think, rather than to encourage you (as true journalists & reporters should do) to think independently and for yourself.
If Trump ultimately drops out...and if one of the other candidates emerges as the standard-bearer for the GOP (e.g., Rubio, Fiorina), then that person must be ready, willing and able to continue Trump's cogent message on ILLEGAL immigration, border security, etc., without backing down from the knee-jerk, “politically correct media bullies”, nay-sayers and Hollywood pop-culture.
It seems that the mainstream media’s goal is to dictate HOW and WHAT you should think, rather than to encourage you (as true journalists & reporters should do) to think independently and for yourself.
12
"Virality" makes a nice pun, but I suspect the writer doesn't know how many readers don't spell well. To them, it will seem to be jst what The Donald wants them to see.
5
Emma Roller's article ignores a key point: From June 2015 to September 2015, whenever Donald Trump voiced another ugly remark or pandered to another racist stereotype, The New York Times declared: "That's it! It's over! Trump has lost the race! We predict his scare-mongering and hate speech will alienate most GOP voters!" ... And then Trump's popularity surged higher.
As such, perhaps write an article that explains (1) why The New York Times continually underestimated the power of Trump's race-baiting demagoguery and (2) why The New York Times perpetually fails to understand the ugly national psyche of its own country. One senses that NYT writers exist in an ivory tower somewhere on Eighth Avenue above the soot and grime of reality.
Frankly, The New York Times' earlier prophecies about how Republican voters would see through Trump's hate-mongering, how America knows better, etc., were insulting to the intelligence of your readers. Please do better.
As such, perhaps write an article that explains (1) why The New York Times continually underestimated the power of Trump's race-baiting demagoguery and (2) why The New York Times perpetually fails to understand the ugly national psyche of its own country. One senses that NYT writers exist in an ivory tower somewhere on Eighth Avenue above the soot and grime of reality.
Frankly, The New York Times' earlier prophecies about how Republican voters would see through Trump's hate-mongering, how America knows better, etc., were insulting to the intelligence of your readers. Please do better.
7
Populism has never been a movement that is inspiring and progressive.
2
As a Bernie Sanders supporter in NH, I was very pleased to listen to Trump absolutely bash to bits our state's largest newspaper, the Union Leader. That scurrilous rag has been driving bad decision making in this state for many many decades. On that basis I happily took my place as a viral vector and passed the video of him tearing Joe McQuaid a new one around to at least five friends.
6
The media is certainly helping Trump, not by promoting him, but by relentlessly chastising him through ugly name-calling. The Times, WaPo and other liberal mouthpieces show their true biased selves when it comes to Trump. They can't publish a single article on him without the word "hate", and go out of their way to misquote him. Trump did not say "all Mexicans are rapists". He said "illegals come over, and some of them are rapists and drug dealers" which is the TRUTH. 42% of violent criminals in CA's prisons are hispanic. 27% of federal prisoners are foreign nationals.
With each passing day I begin to wonder more and more if we are still a free country. What good is free speech if anyone who dares uttering an independent thought that is contrary to the PC mantra on race, immigration or religion is immediately called out for "hate-speech" and ostracized or publicly lynched?
Trump's popularity is a public rebellion. The people have had enough. We've had enough of the left's zealous promotion of political correctness over free speech. We are in ever greater danger of turning into the Orwellian society of 1984, Europe is already 90% there. Trump represents neither the Democratic party nor the Republican party, neither the left nor the right. He represents the independent thinkers, people who still have COMMON SENSE. We want our freedom back, just as we want our country back!
With each passing day I begin to wonder more and more if we are still a free country. What good is free speech if anyone who dares uttering an independent thought that is contrary to the PC mantra on race, immigration or religion is immediately called out for "hate-speech" and ostracized or publicly lynched?
Trump's popularity is a public rebellion. The people have had enough. We've had enough of the left's zealous promotion of political correctness over free speech. We are in ever greater danger of turning into the Orwellian society of 1984, Europe is already 90% there. Trump represents neither the Democratic party nor the Republican party, neither the left nor the right. He represents the independent thinkers, people who still have COMMON SENSE. We want our freedom back, just as we want our country back!
10
The writer needs to be a bit more specific with her "facts." The fact is that Trump leads all national polls when pitted against the other Republican candidates. Both Clinton and Sanders beat him handily in national polls. Its this kind of careless writing that gives people like the Donald more credibility than they deserve. As a reader, I expect the Times to edit and fact check everything it prints on its pages.
4
You don't get it. People like Trump because he is honest. No politically correct phasing, no disingenuous support for positions that he doesn't believe in, and most importantly, no fixed ideology. In fact, he has a fundamental ignorance of ideology and the most you can say about him is that he is a pragmatist, as are most business men. This is why the Republican Party is afraid of him.
Now Trump is also crude, very much like reality tv , most movies, and much of our culture. But the things that he has said should not be interpreted as hate speech or racism, just crude and to the point. His speaking style is the antithesis of modern political rhetoric. What politicians have learned is to lie, cheat and promote their own agenda under the cover of meaningless clichés. For example, which is worse, Trump telling us Hillary has a bathroom problem or the Republican Party using the Benghazi hearings to push their own political agenda? My suggestion to Democrats, be a little more like Trump.
Now Trump is also crude, very much like reality tv , most movies, and much of our culture. But the things that he has said should not be interpreted as hate speech or racism, just crude and to the point. His speaking style is the antithesis of modern political rhetoric. What politicians have learned is to lie, cheat and promote their own agenda under the cover of meaningless clichés. For example, which is worse, Trump telling us Hillary has a bathroom problem or the Republican Party using the Benghazi hearings to push their own political agenda? My suggestion to Democrats, be a little more like Trump.
13
Too much analysis. I am thankful to Trump for the damage he is doing to the Republican party. But what if he were to get elected? Don't see how but if this did come to pass, it seems to me that most promises made on the campaign trail never come to pass, either because they cost money or because the candidate was lying. To put it another way, I suspect many people are asking how much damage could he really do?
2
Having destroyed the official Republican candidates who often lack the real gravity nor the wisdom to govern this large country-Trump has become the thorn on their side. Trump can be treated as a racist, bigot or a light weight on issues, but has a strong following on the Right. Now, it is for the voters to see if there is anyone on their side to replace him. Bush and Walker were the platform candidates who were" trumpatized" by the onslaught of Trump-who has free publicity over all media. Bush is the new"affluenza" kid who came for the coronation and found his podium and crown stolen by the pompous Trump. Trumpism is here to stay. Who knows? Maybe he is the 'avatar' of Ronald Regan or the biggest savior of the Democratic party from it feckless, spineless politicians.
3
The thought of Mr. Trump winning the election brings to mind Robert Redford's film "The Candidate". At the end, when Redford's character wins the election, he turns to his campaign manager and says "What do we do now?"
I guess that will be when all of Mr. Trump's "beautiful" plans (whatever they are) come to fruition. Or not.
I guess that will be when all of Mr. Trump's "beautiful" plans (whatever they are) come to fruition. Or not.
1
It appears that Trump has never met his match in a personal debate. He is bold, outspoken, says what he believes and in a refreshing way without regard for political correctness. But under the surface he would like to see people prosper and our country be strong. He could probably put together a government of competent people who are knowledgeable in their assigned areas. It would be good for the country to give him a try, breaking out of our old and established political behaviors. And if he gets out of control, Congress and the Supreme Court will keep things reasonable.
8
I'm glad to read that there's a whole new word "virality", not what I initially thought was a redefinition of the other similar sounding word "virility". Because with that gold-plated hair, I would have a hard time trying to consider Trump as a "virile" man -- rather nothing more than a flamboyant male lacking in masculine self-confidence.
It is true that he is somewhat of a chameleon that changes to suit his environment. In his case, after living in that gold-plated penthouse for so long, his hair has acquired a permanent tinge. If he ever hopes to become real, as in President, he's going to have to shave his head.
It is true that he is somewhat of a chameleon that changes to suit his environment. In his case, after living in that gold-plated penthouse for so long, his hair has acquired a permanent tinge. If he ever hopes to become real, as in President, he's going to have to shave his head.
Social media, the internets, smart phones all conspire to promote and supercharge the negative, and frankly, the big lie theory. Goebbels was a genius, if an evil one.
As far back as the 19th century, Twain coined the phrase 'A lie can travel around the world while the truth is still putting on it's boots'. (Something like that!)Our electronic world has put that sentiment on steroids. After all, who clicks on the simple boring truth?
As far back as the 19th century, Twain coined the phrase 'A lie can travel around the world while the truth is still putting on it's boots'. (Something like that!)Our electronic world has put that sentiment on steroids. After all, who clicks on the simple boring truth?
2
It has always been wise to retain what is good and refrain from every kind of evil. Unfortunately, drawing a line and declaring a consequence of a particular policy as “evil” can be as politically incorrect as the notion of sin itself. Donald Trump has entertained us with his views on personal wealth, procreation choices, porn, sleaze, guns, tax expenditures, lies, affirmative action, marriage, religious hypocrisy, intellectual property monopolies, etc. He seems to have crossed the line from moderation to evil at every opportunity. He is a successful gambler who has taken the money of the chumps that looked up to him and has led his adversaries into bankruptcy on more than one occasion. He is proud and has no regrets.
3
First: Like it or not, Donald Trump is interesting to watch. I've already made up my mind about Dems (Go Bernie), but Sanders is not bound to surprise us from now till the end of the game. He stands for what he stands. I 've already made up my mind about the other Reps; so we are left with only one interesting candidate who surprises us every day and who we can count on coming with a bold and un-PC reaction (in tune with ours) on every daily crisis. Personally, I'm an independent, very liberal, educated, don't spend more than 1 H of social media per month, yet every day I run a Google search to see what's the latest on Trump.
Second: If Trump was indeed the man of the year, then why did Time choose Merkel ? Like Trump she is very polarizing but we are too far to know: Merkel is hated in Europe for opening the gates and even more for forcing other sovereign countries to follow in her folly, and she is loved by the bought-and-sold-with-Saudi-money-pro Muslim media around the world.
Third: Media treated Trump unfairly. He was always taken out of context to prove that he is a bad buy (eg: the Mexicans; Trump said that the good ones come to US legally and those who choose to come through the back door, illegally are mostly bad: drug dealers, gang members, rapists, repeat convicts
People's reaction has been a balancing act to media's exaggerations and double standards: pundits can call Trump all the ugly names, but they yell each time Trump uses similarly ugly names.
Second: If Trump was indeed the man of the year, then why did Time choose Merkel ? Like Trump she is very polarizing but we are too far to know: Merkel is hated in Europe for opening the gates and even more for forcing other sovereign countries to follow in her folly, and she is loved by the bought-and-sold-with-Saudi-money-pro Muslim media around the world.
Third: Media treated Trump unfairly. He was always taken out of context to prove that he is a bad buy (eg: the Mexicans; Trump said that the good ones come to US legally and those who choose to come through the back door, illegally are mostly bad: drug dealers, gang members, rapists, repeat convicts
People's reaction has been a balancing act to media's exaggerations and double standards: pundits can call Trump all the ugly names, but they yell each time Trump uses similarly ugly names.
7
Someone should investigate Trump's education both at Fordham and at the U. of Penn. I think they might find mediocre at best grades at Fordham, perhaps even failing grades, and the fact that he did not attend The Wharton School either at the undergraduate level or the MBA level. What I suspect is that he took a couple of courses at Wharton while he was at Penn ( he apparently transferred from Fordham to Penn) or he attended Wharton on an executive program long after he graduated from college. I further suspect his transfer from Fordham was "arranged" by his father.
2
So the solution to Trump is to bemoan the social media and to pine for the (non-existent) Golden Age of the "serious" voter? I am liberal, highly educated, and I love the social media and our wired, global, interconnected world. I envy my own kids who grew up with the Internet from age zero. People died smuggling forbidden books into totalitarian countries; now we have access to all human knowledge at out fingertips. If you cannot make use of this abundance of intellectual riches, blame yourself, not the technology. The antidote to Trump is not being a self-righteous Luddite but rather coming up with a candidate who can manipulate the social media as successfully as he does but in service of a better ideology. I'm encouraged by Sanders' success; he shows that this can be done.
37
I also read the title as Donald Trump's unstoppable Virility. perhaps the country is looking for this kind of person for leadership we have hiliary now,who kowtows to terrorists, as she did on the attack on the US embassy in Libya. perhaps America will have a realchoice in the election instead of the same old same.
virality...it's matter over mind in this case, if you don't mind, it doesn't matter.
1
Trump is the consummate opportunist. He wouldn't be in it, if he and his advisors didn't think he could win it.
8
His handler are no less delusional. The only money Trump is spending is his own.
The only reason he is running in the first place, is the same reason anyome with that kind of money does what they do....it's because they can.
The only reason he is running in the first place, is the same reason anyome with that kind of money does what they do....it's because they can.
How is it unstoppable? Just don't write about it, just like the NYT does to Sanders and O'Malley.
28
Maybe people are simply fed up of being told what the PC narrative should be and simply crave to hear the truth for a change? Maybe people are sick and tired of neatly packaged politicians that sleekly espouse streamlined, wishful thinking palaver (as if the militant Islam is going to go away if you will not utter the 2 words "militant" and "Islam" as Obama and Hillary refuse to do) ignoring the fact that, yes, we ARE at war? Maybe, with their refusal to tell the truth as it is, both the media and the politicians are guilty for ascension of Mr. Trump?
10
What Trump and today's Republicans consider PC, used to be considered good manners, being considerate...being "conservative."
2
PolitiFact would disagree with your suggestion that Mr Trump is spreading *The Truth* to the American voters.
6
So very tired of hearing about him, reading about him. Please, please write more news and feature stories of more interest and value to the land.
12
Donald is having fun. He is playing the biggest game of his life....the only one left. He has nothing but contempt for the American people...for ANY people. He is the owner and operator of the biggest carnival ever. He knows what those "stooooopid" people want to see and hear and he will make sure they get all that and more. Then, should he be able to pull off the largest heist in US history (and maybe the final one), he will be bored. Yes, bored. By his own admission, the moment he "acquires" something, he looses all interest. Oh, he might be entertained temporarily by playing a game of chicken or chess with Putin (who, by the way, is salivating at the prospect of a Trump presidency). And then what? The End
Surely what I just wrote is a work of fiction. Surely, my fellow Americans are not interested in possibly committing suicide.
Surely what I just wrote is a work of fiction. Surely, my fellow Americans are not interested in possibly committing suicide.
18
Support for Trump and support for ISIS/ISIL stem from the same base human emotional profile.
Americans puzzle at the attraction of extremist leaders in the Middle East, wondering why citizens of the region would ally with ISIS/ISIL and other aberrant groups. We need look no further than our own support of Donald Trump (as well as Ted Cruz and the other GOP presidential candidates) to understand why otherwise sane people lose their heads over these hate-mongering demagogues.
Occasionally political leaders come along who serve as a tabula rasa for the projection of personal hatred and fear. By tapping into those base emotions, they motivate their followers not only to support them, but also to commit violence, and to defend the violence of people whom they see as representing their ideology.
If we choose Mr. Trump we are no better as a civilization than the extremist supporters we decry elsewhere in the world.
Americans puzzle at the attraction of extremist leaders in the Middle East, wondering why citizens of the region would ally with ISIS/ISIL and other aberrant groups. We need look no further than our own support of Donald Trump (as well as Ted Cruz and the other GOP presidential candidates) to understand why otherwise sane people lose their heads over these hate-mongering demagogues.
Occasionally political leaders come along who serve as a tabula rasa for the projection of personal hatred and fear. By tapping into those base emotions, they motivate their followers not only to support them, but also to commit violence, and to defend the violence of people whom they see as representing their ideology.
If we choose Mr. Trump we are no better as a civilization than the extremist supporters we decry elsewhere in the world.
12
It is just such elitist disdain for the common man who feels disenfranchised that fuels their anger. It's always easy to blame the victim. Mideast poor have watched corrupt leaders leach their wealth into the fleshpots of Europe for decades, just as the common man scratches his head when he sees impoverished politicians leave office to wealth that would make a sheikh blush: Clinton/ Rove/Bush brigades. They understand that a plutocrat is a kleptocrat: Gates and Buffet are rich because their enablers make them tax exempt--for a fee. This is wholesale plunder of the Treasury, every bit as heinous as the plunder which gave rise to IS, and, the American Revolution.
8
As an old fashioned Enlightenment rationalist who believes in the power of deliberative reason and dialogue as a means to improve the common good, I despair of what the modern world of mass information and instant communication is doing to our human capacity to reason.
Donald Trump is a product of the entertainment world. He is bringing entertainment values to the world of politics. Traditional politics and politicians are simply no match for him and his 100% name recognition and celebrity.
To complete my cycle of despair, the major journalistic outlets are now all owned by the giant entertainment companies such as Disney, Comcast, Fox and Time-Warner. Thus it is only natural that these companies that are focused on ratings and advertising profits would embrace an entertainer like Trump. Even the NYT can't resist running endless stories on him.
Let's hope that the voters can exercise some rational restraint on the political system, as we did when we elected Obama, and keep the entertainment money-changers out of the temple of democracy.
Donald Trump is a product of the entertainment world. He is bringing entertainment values to the world of politics. Traditional politics and politicians are simply no match for him and his 100% name recognition and celebrity.
To complete my cycle of despair, the major journalistic outlets are now all owned by the giant entertainment companies such as Disney, Comcast, Fox and Time-Warner. Thus it is only natural that these companies that are focused on ratings and advertising profits would embrace an entertainer like Trump. Even the NYT can't resist running endless stories on him.
Let's hope that the voters can exercise some rational restraint on the political system, as we did when we elected Obama, and keep the entertainment money-changers out of the temple of democracy.
9
Comcast/NBC did kick Trump off of his reality show after his rapists/murderers comments about Mexicans.
1
I learned early on in life that when virality struck, the best thing to do was lie in bed until my antibodies fought the virus and I felt normal again and I was no longer contagious.
7
Hi Emma,
Very insightful article about the Virality of Mr Trump's messages. I would like to include an addendum to this discussion by mentioning the notion of "The Medium is the Message" as espoused by Marshall McLuhan ("Understanding Media: the Extensions of Man", 1964) as it relates to the phenomenon of Virality. Mr. McLuhan explained the symbiotic relationship between the medium (primary Twitter for Mr Trump) and the embedded message (sense of frustration with the Status Quo: the primary thematic construct of Mr Trump's messages) and how the medium influences the perception of the message. We all understand the tremendous efficacy of Twitter as a medium and how these embedded messages impact our sensorium in a visceral way by its compact structures (140 Characters) and the sense of immediacy ("Bull Horn Effect"). This "Bull Horn Effect" essentially serves as a perfect conduit for the desire to share the message thus creating Virality.
Kind Regards,
Raj Sinha
Princeton Junction, NJ
Very insightful article about the Virality of Mr Trump's messages. I would like to include an addendum to this discussion by mentioning the notion of "The Medium is the Message" as espoused by Marshall McLuhan ("Understanding Media: the Extensions of Man", 1964) as it relates to the phenomenon of Virality. Mr. McLuhan explained the symbiotic relationship between the medium (primary Twitter for Mr Trump) and the embedded message (sense of frustration with the Status Quo: the primary thematic construct of Mr Trump's messages) and how the medium influences the perception of the message. We all understand the tremendous efficacy of Twitter as a medium and how these embedded messages impact our sensorium in a visceral way by its compact structures (140 Characters) and the sense of immediacy ("Bull Horn Effect"). This "Bull Horn Effect" essentially serves as a perfect conduit for the desire to share the message thus creating Virality.
Kind Regards,
Raj Sinha
Princeton Junction, NJ
2
Trump's supporters have pretty well explained why they like him: he gives them the green light to insult women, minorities, Muslims, immigrants, gays, the disabled. No more "political correctness." Americans are "tired" of being polite, considerate, civil (that is exactly what they say). Americans like crude, rude, boorish behavior -- because Americans are crude, rude, and boorish.
8
Reading you make me think that America deserves for years under Trump.
2
Oh, at first glance I thought that word was virility, and I was going to comment that he seems always to be thinking with his ----. That would be typical of a self-centered bloviator.
4
"Conservatives tend to be a lot more reactive to negative information and they also tend to be a lot more insular in nature, and they also tend to have less tolerance for ambiguity"
Substitute "Nazi's for Conservatives and there you have it for the 21st century. Add Trumps views on Mexicans and Muslims to his plans for a "muscular" foreign policy and we all know where he'll take us. Are we ready?
Substitute "Nazi's for Conservatives and there you have it for the 21st century. Add Trumps views on Mexicans and Muslims to his plans for a "muscular" foreign policy and we all know where he'll take us. Are we ready?
1
Trump is building his coalition the way Obama built his own. Obama got the wired millennials to vote in droves, along with single women and African-Americans. Now Trump is getting their slower-to-wire-but-finally-wired elders, especially lower class and lower middle class white males who used to organize in labor unions and now organize as the Trump troops. Three generations ago, these Trumpistas might have been Franklin Roosevelt's strongest supporters. Now they are Trump's. All it will take to swing them back to the Democrats is the right candidate with the right message that puts their needs first, but Mrs. Clinton is no FDR.
14
Very insightful analysis. Americans will follow a movement with high ideals, but not lecturing or scolding. I'd also say Reagan touched the same emotion with blue-collar Democrats. Bill Clinton could reach them, but - to paraphrase Lloyd Benson - Hillary is no Bill Clinton.
3
"If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; but if you really make them think, they'll hate you." Donald Robert Perry
13
This the most fun election I have seen in years. Everyone who is so worried I say relax and enjoy the ride.the country will survive, it always has. Just go through our history and see some of the dingbats we have had as presidents.
Life is short, enjoy the moment.
Life is short, enjoy the moment.
10
Article underlines how lies, mistaken beliefs, and erroneous attitudes can take root, by pointing to those which Trump has promoted.
What works for Trump works for others--a fact glossed over.
I don't like Trump either, but his main flaw seems only that he bends the truth abler than his opponents. How nervy!
Why do people trust ANY politicians? Reminds me of the front-row matrons at the Ed Sullivan show, jumping up and down like teeny-boppers during a Beatles performance
What works for Trump works for others--a fact glossed over.
I don't like Trump either, but his main flaw seems only that he bends the truth abler than his opponents. How nervy!
Why do people trust ANY politicians? Reminds me of the front-row matrons at the Ed Sullivan show, jumping up and down like teeny-boppers during a Beatles performance
1
I love this carpet bombing coverage of The Donald. Even the most prestigious paper of record in America religiously reports daily the antics of the most embarrassing man on the planet. The Donald sells newspapers. Which shows how low they've sunk, pandering to this attention grabbing over-the-top press hound.
The Donald is happy to oblige. He will feed the beast daily and they eat it up. Although his rabid supporters are being taken to the cleaners by this huckster, they angrily attack his detractors, come to his defense over every uncivil morsel spewing from his mouth. Trump's Chumps claim Teh Donald is their hero. He's so bold, so not PC, so wealthy he can't be bought, so arrogant he's let us know he's doing us a favor by taking precious time away from his Huge Bidness Deals to Make America Great, don't forget to add: AGAIN!
What's incredible to watch and wonder is what will The Chumps do when Trump's Clown Car crashes. Be assured this is all headed for no good. We've seen this scenario played out in films. Trump, the anti-hero, is taking this sucker as far as he can drive the beast, oblivious to the consequences of his childish behavior. Trump views his Chumps like those to come his casinos. They are losers willing to gamble away their life's savings as Trump holds his hand out. His disdain for them must be as enormous as his ego. And yet, Trump's lemmings gleefully keep heading for the cliff.
DD
Manhattan
The Donald is happy to oblige. He will feed the beast daily and they eat it up. Although his rabid supporters are being taken to the cleaners by this huckster, they angrily attack his detractors, come to his defense over every uncivil morsel spewing from his mouth. Trump's Chumps claim Teh Donald is their hero. He's so bold, so not PC, so wealthy he can't be bought, so arrogant he's let us know he's doing us a favor by taking precious time away from his Huge Bidness Deals to Make America Great, don't forget to add: AGAIN!
What's incredible to watch and wonder is what will The Chumps do when Trump's Clown Car crashes. Be assured this is all headed for no good. We've seen this scenario played out in films. Trump, the anti-hero, is taking this sucker as far as he can drive the beast, oblivious to the consequences of his childish behavior. Trump views his Chumps like those to come his casinos. They are losers willing to gamble away their life's savings as Trump holds his hand out. His disdain for them must be as enormous as his ego. And yet, Trump's lemmings gleefully keep heading for the cliff.
DD
Manhattan
7
"...Mr. Trump is an echo chamber for certain corners of the far right.."
As The Times has become for the Left. Sadly, I'd add.
As The Times has become for the Left. Sadly, I'd add.
8
I hope your false parallel makes you feel good about yourself, as that is the only value it has.
6
Trump has caught the fancy of the conservative right who feel disfranchised by today's so called politicians. He is the voice of the "folk", of the GOP masses, who are the cannon-fodder, the cattle outside the slaughterhouse, serenely chewing the cud ... those to whom things are done, in contrast to those who have executive will and intelligence. His rhetoric is seemingly innocent of politics to which there is a collective responsive sigh of ‘alas’! But where and when the politics inevitably crops up is when we take this eventually to be the typical sentiment of american society at large and there is no more serious voice that stands higher than Trump's, then we are by the same token saying something very definite about that society
3
Trump is a perfect example of the politics of "bread and circuses." That was a Roman term and tactic. The Bolsheviks replaced it with oppression and death in Siberia. But the American plutocrats have rediscovered the usefulness of B&C. American workers have been greatly disadvantaged over the decades since the steam went out of the post-WWII industrial boom, but they are clueless as to who is to blame. Older American Whites are fearful for the world that will come to be when they have "passed." So a loud-mouthed charlatan can seem attractive to all sorts of people--after all, he got the birds and the dough.
3
Elmer Gantry wearing a new suit.
3
I would be very interested to learn what the Koch brothers think about the Donald.
5
There is much to learn from this piece. I like to look at issues carefully and find a reasoned conclusion. I am an attorney and must persuade the courts that my reasoning is correct.
Yet, particularly when the issue is a case of first impression, reasoning may not overcome an argument based upon what is familiar. This frequently holds, even when the familiar is inapplicable. I now make an effort to find an emotional argument to support my reasoning.
I know that, without it, I am less likely to win the court's concurrence.
Yet, particularly when the issue is a case of first impression, reasoning may not overcome an argument based upon what is familiar. This frequently holds, even when the familiar is inapplicable. I now make an effort to find an emotional argument to support my reasoning.
I know that, without it, I am less likely to win the court's concurrence.
1
Sounds like Mr. Trump is using the same p.r. and marketing consultants that he used for his tv show. Smart.
What would be interesting would be an article that delves into the use of shills and other traditional marketing ploys in social media and more conventional media. Instead what we get is news media breathlessly burnishing the image that the candidate wants.
Mr. Trump doesn't care enough about the issues affecting the majority of Americans to formulate workable policies. he only says he cares. Talk is cheap.
What would be interesting would be an article that delves into the use of shills and other traditional marketing ploys in social media and more conventional media. Instead what we get is news media breathlessly burnishing the image that the candidate wants.
Mr. Trump doesn't care enough about the issues affecting the majority of Americans to formulate workable policies. he only says he cares. Talk is cheap.
5
"Mr. Trump doesn't care enough about the issues affecting the majority of Americans to formulate workable policies. he only says he cares. Talk is cheap."
The same can be said of Obama. Did you hear the latest? He says Syria is a success, and that the terrorists are "contained."
After the televised beheadings, Obama was forced by public outrage to act.
“We will degrade & ultimately destroy ISIL,” he puffed, & then proceeded, (rather expensively), to do neither. (I always thought the "ultimately" was a dead giveaway of his true intentions.)
In 2012 he told us al Qaeda was on the run; and to remain consistent and win the upcoming election, he and Clinton lied to us about Benghazi and let 4 Americans die.
I am no fan of Trump's, but it seems to me that no policy from Trump is infinitely preferable to Clinton's and Obama's deadly bald-face lies or to the standard-issue DC fare: fanciful conceits of the corrupt, power-hungry mediocrity intended to buy votes, not elevate society.
The same can be said of Obama. Did you hear the latest? He says Syria is a success, and that the terrorists are "contained."
After the televised beheadings, Obama was forced by public outrage to act.
“We will degrade & ultimately destroy ISIL,” he puffed, & then proceeded, (rather expensively), to do neither. (I always thought the "ultimately" was a dead giveaway of his true intentions.)
In 2012 he told us al Qaeda was on the run; and to remain consistent and win the upcoming election, he and Clinton lied to us about Benghazi and let 4 Americans die.
I am no fan of Trump's, but it seems to me that no policy from Trump is infinitely preferable to Clinton's and Obama's deadly bald-face lies or to the standard-issue DC fare: fanciful conceits of the corrupt, power-hungry mediocrity intended to buy votes, not elevate society.
3
People share on social media because things are funny or unusual, and the Donald is both. Nobody else says the sorts of things he is saying, and no one else has managed to derail the normal course of political and campaign events, for which many are grateful whether they agree with him or not. The Republican campaign has little relation to truth or practical policies in any case, which makes its derailment both easy and satisfying. All Jeb!'s money is taking him nowhere, and Rand Paul's occasional flirtations with un-Republican realities have (unfortunately) been eclipsed.
6
"Worthy of"?! Emma, don't you know Trump has already "performed" on WWE? You write this clever line as if it hasn't happened, but it has. Better catch up with facts: WWE posted 16 Trump videos, and he's a "WWE Hall of Fame Inductee."
Trump will be our first "viral" president, and sadly, we will get what we deserve.
Trump will be our first "viral" president, and sadly, we will get what we deserve.
2
Yes, Trump is indeed an echo chamber for the far right, but he is not the only one in the overcrowded field of our Republican wannabe presidential contenders. all of whom play quite artfully with the unconscious emotions of the electorate.
Mr. Cruz is clearly a runner up in the echo chamber competition, and might even surpass him.
The best line I read in an article yesterday about Cruz possibly surpassing Trump was that it would be akin to "healing our electoral syphilis by contracting gonorrhea".
Mr. Cruz is clearly a runner up in the echo chamber competition, and might even surpass him.
The best line I read in an article yesterday about Cruz possibly surpassing Trump was that it would be akin to "healing our electoral syphilis by contracting gonorrhea".
9
The rise of Mr. Trump's popularity should surprise no one. Especially as we have become a nation drawn to news sound-bites, and celebrity. And by news, I refer to the more tabloid easily digestible kind, void of any fact or corroboration. This is a country enamored with the show business, and the White House has become little more than a launch pad for the next bully-pulpit, circus arena, or a reality show. Americans who admire Trump, do so for his bravado and ability to cast himself as an "Everyman", who can attain the dream of incalculable wealth (as long as he's White), and fire all those pesky underlings who dare to cross his way. This concept, coupled with good ol' fashioned 'Mom-and-Apple-Pie' rhetoric, and quite a few relentlessly racist barbs is what makes Mr. Trump so appealing, so unstoppable. And so dangerous.
3
On the front page of this paper, today, is an article about how the very wealthy control the federal tax system. They, the wealthy, contribute huge sums of money to candidates who in turn shape the tax loop-hole structures that preserve their wealth. Both sides of the political spectrum are accepting the donations. Mr. Trump has very openly admitted how in the past he also gave bags of cash to secure real favors. He has said often how the politicians are like "puppets". Maybe part of the explanation for his unique appeal has to do with his refusal to accept any donations for his candidacy. Yes, this is "dangerous" as you say, dangerous to the political elite who have for so long breached the trust with the American public.
8
@Len
Yes. I read the article and find it equally disturbing, if not "dangerous". Because it shows the opposite sides of the same coin.
Namely the power of absolute wealth to corrupt absolutely.
Yes. I read the article and find it equally disturbing, if not "dangerous". Because it shows the opposite sides of the same coin.
Namely the power of absolute wealth to corrupt absolutely.
2
The pretense of macho (not least from men who have lived coddled lives) is a staple of the fascist style.
11
The most amazing thing about thse comments is the lengths people will go to in rationalzing their support for a wealthy huckster like this.
Seriously, folks, THS guy is a campion of moral virtues? How many times has he been married, busted up neighborhoods, bankruped businesses, screamed at people?
An all-American boy? With the Saudi partners who keep bailing him out? With the constant claims that our President isn't a real American?
A champion of the little guy? With his bullyng disdain for everybody that's not wealth and successful, by which he means wealthy? With his being born rich?
Good lord, what a bunch of suckers. Geez, at least vote for Kasich or even Rubio: that's make a tad bit of sense.
Seriously, folks, THS guy is a campion of moral virtues? How many times has he been married, busted up neighborhoods, bankruped businesses, screamed at people?
An all-American boy? With the Saudi partners who keep bailing him out? With the constant claims that our President isn't a real American?
A champion of the little guy? With his bullyng disdain for everybody that's not wealth and successful, by which he means wealthy? With his being born rich?
Good lord, what a bunch of suckers. Geez, at least vote for Kasich or even Rubio: that's make a tad bit of sense.
12
The man in the street sees the political establishment of the West as a refined version of Banana Republic chicanery, five star perks, cronyism, rags-to riches (Clinton/Rove), etc. They look for a Sampson with an axe to grind, blind and unpredictable. Hatred of smug Western elites is what makes Putin the most popular politician in Europe, if not the US. It's what drives the suicidal rush to stockpile guns and ammo--I-Phone man with a pitchfork. It's what drove the Plebs to Caesar in a desperate bid to escape the tyranny of the corrupt Roman Senate. The average Russian looks at the West and congratulates himself that he has Putin. Better an unabashed Strongman, they think, then the tyranny of entrenched bureaucrats. Better a honest tyrant like Putin, than the smirking dynasties of the West: Clinton/Rove/Bush. A terrifying ordeal, when, as Tacitus puts it, "men prefer war to a miserable peace." People cheer Trump knowing he'll burn the house down. Our learned professors need to add "pitchfork" psychology to their handbooks.
4
The problem is, those cheering Trump don't realize that they're going to get burned when he burns the house down.
1
At first I thought the headline here said virility, having just glanced through the other article about Trump today - pot calling kettle black on Clinton's boorish behavior towards women.
It's not seemly to beg, but its there any chance we could have less evidence of Trump virality in the NYT, and more articles of substance about, say, the difference in policy positions between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton?
Bernie is my candidate, hands down, but I'd like to see the case made in this and other newspapers.
It's not seemly to beg, but its there any chance we could have less evidence of Trump virality in the NYT, and more articles of substance about, say, the difference in policy positions between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton?
Bernie is my candidate, hands down, but I'd like to see the case made in this and other newspapers.
4
Viral is about the most apt description I've heard of the donny boy.
1
This story is simply a confirmation of an old saw that "First Liar Wins". Social media makes this even more effective.
4
These cheap shots on the middle east is Trump at his lying hypocritical worst. Where was he before when Bush/Cheney and their bellicose neocon advisers were hell-bent to invade Iraq. He wasn't so self righteous then was he? He was as bellicose as any of the worst of the war mongers at the time. This bloviating jerk is appalling.
5
Why are we reading in the NYT so much about Donald Trump and the myriad Republicans, and next to nothing about Bernie Sanders? You are advertising, even if with negative comments, for Trump and the Republican party.
10
Yes, this paper should just suppress news about Mr. Trump -- or better yet tailer it to better fit the democratic ambitions of Mr. Sanders and his ilk.
3
The writer of this piece also gets all her news from social media and is equally informed
8
The media are snobs about Trump, and the liberal left are snobs about the working class. Trump is the anti-snob, and that's why he's popular. Working class people are tired of the condescension, and feel like he stands up for their values without shame.
11
Have you been invited to one of Mr. Trump's parties? Will you ever be?
1
i hadn't known that working people liked being played for suckers by a born-rich real estate huckster from NYC. Thanks for the heads-up.
8
Do you mean to tell me that misogyny and intolerance are values of the working class? I don't think so.
4
The best way to deal with Trump, oh media and other candidates, is to ignore him. To him, that is a sock in the jaw, a real insult. So NYT, are you game to ignore him ? C'mon. You can do it.
12
"more than half of Facebook and Twitter users get their news through those sites." pretty much says it all. The users don't take the time to confirm any veracity of the comments, let alone any opposing viewpoint. As to Trump, he is just reinforcing erroneous beliefs not based on fact (as are most of his followers). Fact checking Trump is a full time job and so far, the data shows Trump statements are incorrect over 80% of the time. Most sane people would call that lying.
6
Trump is a distraction that we fret over. Will he get the nomination? What kind of person could support someone like him? What would his presidency be like? And on and on and on it goes. I just work on ignoring him. If he gets the nomination I predict my shock and disgust. I won't vote for him. If he wins and is president I predict my shock and disgust. What else is there to do? Wring my hands and waste more of life's precious energy and time mulling over the wretchedness of DT?
When he doesn't get the nomination, and when he doesn't become the next president of the United States, every one of us who spent one moment of anxiety over the possibility that he "might have" will regret the unnecessary misery we put ourselves through.
When he doesn't get the nomination, and when he doesn't become the next president of the United States, every one of us who spent one moment of anxiety over the possibility that he "might have" will regret the unnecessary misery we put ourselves through.
4
Trump puts real issues on the table. You can't deny that.
9
Anyone could put real life issues on the table. The question is how to solve them. Trump says "trust me" sure!
3
The point is, putting real issues on the table is at least better than denying them and calling people names for making them.
3
Obama put lots of real issues on the table, but the GOP demonized him. Those who now like Trump are unaware of the details of Obama's policies--but they "know" that he's "useless, a loser, and evil."
2
Enough already with the endless breathless media coverage of America's latest demagogue. Why not cover folks running for office who actually have some substantive ideas about how to move the country forward.
That would be "UGE."
That would be "UGE."
11
There is no such thing as bad publicity. Pro or con, it is publicity.
7
Today's Times displays the level of intellectual discourse that is this year's presidential viral campaigning:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/30/us/politics/social-media-election-2016...®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
While you're reading that, I have more pleasant activities in which to engage. The cats' litterboxes need tending. The tree that blew down during the weekend storm needs to become firewood. And the logjam caused by the 10 inches of rain that fell needs to be removed from the overflow control pipe of my pond.
How many of your Facebook "Friend"[s] do you think would "Like" to assist you with an assortment of chores such as this?
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/30/us/politics/social-media-election-2016...®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
While you're reading that, I have more pleasant activities in which to engage. The cats' litterboxes need tending. The tree that blew down during the weekend storm needs to become firewood. And the logjam caused by the 10 inches of rain that fell needs to be removed from the overflow control pipe of my pond.
How many of your Facebook "Friend"[s] do you think would "Like" to assist you with an assortment of chores such as this?
2
thanks, fox!
go bernie 2016!
go bernie 2016!
4
I recall a noble profession of print and broadcast journalism that used to tell society what is "worth talking about." For that, we gave the press privileged standing among all other professions, so no law could bind them. Now, however, giant media-entertainment corporations troll social media to see what it is we think is worth the candle. Are we squandering the precious First Amendment on placebo press?
7
12/29 12:38am
Yet another analysis of someone on the right political spectrum.
I ran a local radio program in which I interviewed a Psychology Professor and asked her why so many studies had been made about authoritarian personalities (Adorno, Froom, and Arendt) and so few on the liberal personality. Her answer was simple; ‘perhaps more psychologists are left leaning’.
Riesman’s sociological book ‘the Lonely Crowd’ hints at an answer. In it he drew a distinction between inner directed and outer directed people. Inner directed people are raised with a set of moral values which serve as a moral compass, outer directed take the values of the group as the basis for their values.
So here is a thumbnail analysis of the progressive left. They are a fusion of outer directed with the narcissistic personality. The narcissistic being someone who defines what is right as that which serves them - a scratch for their every itch.
Then they collect people with similar views and are extremely careful not to mix with anyone who doesn’t share their views. To do so would undercut their value system.
That is why they are always so shocked when a republican wins – ‘how could that happen – no one I know voted for him!’
And that is why they can’t understand Trump, who for all his narcissism draws many of his positions based on a moral compass – illegal immigration being but one example.
Yet another analysis of someone on the right political spectrum.
I ran a local radio program in which I interviewed a Psychology Professor and asked her why so many studies had been made about authoritarian personalities (Adorno, Froom, and Arendt) and so few on the liberal personality. Her answer was simple; ‘perhaps more psychologists are left leaning’.
Riesman’s sociological book ‘the Lonely Crowd’ hints at an answer. In it he drew a distinction between inner directed and outer directed people. Inner directed people are raised with a set of moral values which serve as a moral compass, outer directed take the values of the group as the basis for their values.
So here is a thumbnail analysis of the progressive left. They are a fusion of outer directed with the narcissistic personality. The narcissistic being someone who defines what is right as that which serves them - a scratch for their every itch.
Then they collect people with similar views and are extremely careful not to mix with anyone who doesn’t share their views. To do so would undercut their value system.
That is why they are always so shocked when a republican wins – ‘how could that happen – no one I know voted for him!’
And that is why they can’t understand Trump, who for all his narcissism draws many of his positions based on a moral compass – illegal immigration being but one example.
10
“Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views.”
― William F. Buckley Jr.
These are dangerous times for liberals. They used to be able to derail just about any GOP politician with the simple charge of "racism" (or "sexism or any of the usual suspects). The two non-politician business candidates, Trump and Fiorina, aren't having any of it. They operate in a real world where PC doesn't matter. It just gets in the way of results, which do matter.
― William F. Buckley Jr.
These are dangerous times for liberals. They used to be able to derail just about any GOP politician with the simple charge of "racism" (or "sexism or any of the usual suspects). The two non-politician business candidates, Trump and Fiorina, aren't having any of it. They operate in a real world where PC doesn't matter. It just gets in the way of results, which do matter.
6
Since you seem to have some knowledge of psychology I expect you will understand it when I say "you are projecting."
3
Then the argument(s) here are that Trump (or Fiorina) would make a good and/or effective president?
When the Democratic candidate starts talking about how republican prescriptions for war will tank home property and investment values, the clueless supporters of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz will get religion real fast. Whether or not that is too late for responsible sounding people like Governor Kasich of Ohio to compete in the republican party is one question. I say "sounding" because governor Kasich was part of the Reagan revolution in the Congress that gave us the likes of justices Scalia and Thomas on the Supreme Court, and which led to the rise of George W. Bush in Texas and the economic decline of America during the Presidency he took through voting restrictions and hanging chads in Florida.
6
Donald Trump in his effort to make America great again, will through his example, create numerous opportunities for youth employment, including the urgent need for croupiers & wait staff in an expanding national network of casinos, construction on the border wall, requiring not only masons but espalier experts capable of growing fruits & flowers against that towering extended edifice, secret police & cadets in the hundreds of thousands to expose & root out the infidel among us, and lastly a burgeoning poster & plaster bust industry capable of providing every family home with images of this latter day Winston Churchill.
5
Thanks, Apple Jack, for bringing a smile to this grim subject. Here's hoping at least some of the NYT readership recognizes and appreciates irony.
1
Why does the NYT write about this man endlessly, from every angle and point of view possible, ostensibly to point out the very quirky nature of his ascent, when it is just giving him attention, exposure, and worst of all, legitimacy? You people really must cut back, your coverage of him is totally out of proportion.
14
There are always angry people who want to blame some one else for their not getting what they think the deserve. Mostly, on the right, these are non-college educated white workers whom the economy has left behind. The do not understand democracy or distrust it to deliver what they want now. The fastest route is a strongman, a dictator who can get things done.
Trump says Obama is a foreign born Muslim. They believe it. To hell with the system which is rigged against "real Americans." They need someone who will burn the house down and take no prisoners.
Trump has pointed out the villians: Mexican rapists, Muslims, compromise and diplomacy, taxes and wages which are too high and political correctness. The answer mass deportation and registering all Muslims. It is not hard to imagine a Trump presidency. It may very well put our Constutution in histories dustbin with the constitution of the Weimar Republic.
The Times discussed the question of whether Trump was a fascist and its author concluded that he was. If you are a student of history you remember those cheering crowds and those theatrical speeches where Germans cheered when the coming Chancellor explained that the country had a Jewish problem. All Jews would have to register for openers. Hitler told the lies and Dr. Gobbles repeated and spread them in the party owned press. We know the history and I suspect the Muslims do too. The big question is after the Muslims, who will be next, protesters, liberals who?
Trump says Obama is a foreign born Muslim. They believe it. To hell with the system which is rigged against "real Americans." They need someone who will burn the house down and take no prisoners.
Trump has pointed out the villians: Mexican rapists, Muslims, compromise and diplomacy, taxes and wages which are too high and political correctness. The answer mass deportation and registering all Muslims. It is not hard to imagine a Trump presidency. It may very well put our Constutution in histories dustbin with the constitution of the Weimar Republic.
The Times discussed the question of whether Trump was a fascist and its author concluded that he was. If you are a student of history you remember those cheering crowds and those theatrical speeches where Germans cheered when the coming Chancellor explained that the country had a Jewish problem. All Jews would have to register for openers. Hitler told the lies and Dr. Gobbles repeated and spread them in the party owned press. We know the history and I suspect the Muslims do too. The big question is after the Muslims, who will be next, protesters, liberals who?
6
Emma Roller appears to think that all knowledge and intelligence begins and ends at the university door. She quotes professor after professor as if this is the only means to give her fragile opinions credibility. And lo and behold, those academic opinions just happen to fully embrace and support her preconceived prejudices.
Well, there are other opinions out there, and other sources of practical, life-affirming knowledge. Intelligence can be gained from places other than the academy. This country, and its guiding principles, was founded by practical men, not eggheads.
Well, there are other opinions out there, and other sources of practical, life-affirming knowledge. Intelligence can be gained from places other than the academy. This country, and its guiding principles, was founded by practical men, not eggheads.
7
Using good old fashioned common sense, no doubt. Along the lines of 'the earth is flat, just look at the horizon.'
2
You may want to learn some basic Anerican history, necause you never saw a bigger passel of eggheads than the guys who wrote this country into existence.
i mean, seriously--Jefferson and Paine were first and fore ost oractical-minded? not in this dimension.
i mean, seriously--Jefferson and Paine were first and fore ost oractical-minded? not in this dimension.
1
Right, God forbid that she quote anyone who has done actual research on the question!
I think Prof. Rapson really meant to say "“Hate, fear of the other, anger — they lead to the Dark side..."
1
It is absolutely NOT true that "The Republican candidate has led in most national polls..." as Ms Roller states. These are polls of likely *Republican* primary voters. Emma Roller is one of many sloppy writers who unwittingly overstate the popularity of Trump and other Republican candidates by failing to take note of the sampling base of the polls they quote from. No wonder we are so vulnerable to virality when we have so little respect for data.
9
Just we need. More psycho-babble from psycho-logists. In the late '60's, many of them didn't blame the Nazis for the horrors of WWII, supposedly, because they had been traumatized by WWI and its aftermath. Fact check that!
2
Oh, goodness. That photo is the explanation of why Donald Trump thought that "scholonged" meant "shellacking": He was thinking, as always, of his hair.
Now, THAT'S a "shellacking"!
Now, THAT'S a "shellacking"!
1
The Conscience of the World's Greatest Businessman of All Time
No question, you can go far if you are unencumbered by a conscience. Yesterday, Mr. Donald Rump told an NBC journalist that he (personally) did not believe in the truthfulness of the allegations he tweeted to millions of of voters. He said he nevertheless used the damning allegations because "they" were saying so all over out there. What kind of a nan does willfully spread stories of personal failures of character about another man knowing full well that they are just stories spread by them"?
No question, you can go far if you are unencumbered by a conscience. Yesterday, Mr. Donald Rump told an NBC journalist that he (personally) did not believe in the truthfulness of the allegations he tweeted to millions of of voters. He said he nevertheless used the damning allegations because "they" were saying so all over out there. What kind of a nan does willfully spread stories of personal failures of character about another man knowing full well that they are just stories spread by them"?
5
That's easy: a man with no integrity.
1
What we term empathy is an ability to read the emotions of others and engage in caring words or deeds. But sociopaths lack empathy, while making use of an ability to "read" others' emotions - in order to gain control over them and aggrandize an inflated self.
Trump does the latter in spades! He has an uncanny ability to connect with the raw emotions, needs and wishes of his audiences. He amplifies what he sees resonates. But not for good. Instead he's on a "bender" of sorts - utilizing, as this article describes so well, the fears, resentments, hostilities of unsuspecting citizens who feel a sense of helplessness in the face of social disparities and are willing to blame these on hated others - for his own selfish ends.
As so many have pointed out, this is a dangerous and volatile development. And like a forest fire, which can make its own wind, it can jump, via emotional contagion, far beyond its current audience. It will not be easy to put out; it burns due to so much dry tinder long strewn by GOP tactics. But it threatens more than just the GOP. It threatens our whole society.
I hope and pray that sane republicans put our nation first instead of just their party, their base, desire for power. For the love of God, and so many of you do profess to love God, do the right and honorable thing!
Trump does the latter in spades! He has an uncanny ability to connect with the raw emotions, needs and wishes of his audiences. He amplifies what he sees resonates. But not for good. Instead he's on a "bender" of sorts - utilizing, as this article describes so well, the fears, resentments, hostilities of unsuspecting citizens who feel a sense of helplessness in the face of social disparities and are willing to blame these on hated others - for his own selfish ends.
As so many have pointed out, this is a dangerous and volatile development. And like a forest fire, which can make its own wind, it can jump, via emotional contagion, far beyond its current audience. It will not be easy to put out; it burns due to so much dry tinder long strewn by GOP tactics. But it threatens more than just the GOP. It threatens our whole society.
I hope and pray that sane republicans put our nation first instead of just their party, their base, desire for power. For the love of God, and so many of you do profess to love God, do the right and honorable thing!
4
I am fed up with apologists for hate saying that Trump "hijacked" the republican party. He didn't hijack thing. Listen to them. Read their comments here. By their own admission, this is who republicans are. Don't they repeatedly tell us that Trump says what they all think, but were afraid to say? Well, now they say it.
Hijacked them? More like Trump liberated them.
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
Hijacked them? More like Trump liberated them.
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
10
You give far too much credit to Donald Trump. The common explanation for Donald Trump "phenomenon," that he speaks for "the people who think the world has passed him by" is nonsense. What has he offered anyone that would actually address the source of their anxieties and fears except hurling epithets? He doesn't speak for anyone but himself, hence his obsession with how he is doing in the polls instead of offering any actual policy, and slamming anyone who dares disagree or criticize as a "lowlife" a "loser" a "liar." He is against the elites? He is constantly talking up how he went to Wharton so therefore must be smart (where are his grades, as he demanded of Obama?). He blasts Bill Clinton as a womanizer? Are you kidding? The guy who married 3 times, each time dumping his wife for a younger, prettier model? Whereas Bill Clinton has worked tirelessly in his post-presidency bringing real change and bettering the lives of hundreds of millions, what has Trump ever done for anyone but himself? Family values? Any values? A winner? The guy who went bankrupt 4 times, whose business model is dependent upon extracting tax abatements paid for by working stiffs? His "fans" say they like that he "tells it as it is", he "talks truth." No, he lies and flip flops ("I never said wages were too high"). To suggest Trump is a "new phenomenon" is absurd. Every tyrant, dictator and demagogue has done the same thing. He is just that: a petty wannabe dictator.
167
The problem is not what Trump is: we all know the answer to that. The problem is that so many Americans are gullible and ill-informed of their own constitution and political process. Polls regularly show that 60%+ of those polled can't name two of the three branches of government; and that 40% of Republicans believe in creationism and reject the science of evolution and of climatology. Our democracy rests on a vast sea of ignorance and anger.
1
So now we get Emma Roller echoing the hollow news pages with vacuous commentary. Go New York Times, just what we did not need.
3
Tens of thousands of words and hours of reaction and reflection have been given over to a sly fox whose vocabulary does not exceed 100 words. Thank goodness the title wasn't "Donald Trump's Unstoppable Virility." To use one of his favorite words, 'disgusting.'
8
Donald Trump is the US version of Toronto's Rob Ford. Same themes, same virtually unstoppable campaign, just on a larger scale. No matter what Ford did, his supporters ignored it. Nothing could change their minds. In the end, we had Ford for four ghastly and highly destructive years, and if he hadn't become ill, we might very well have had him for another term. Hope the US doesn't go down the same road and put Trump in office.
7
We could blame this phenomena on the dumbing down of America's schools and mass media, but when even the New York Times is guilty of Trump 24/7 the problem must go deeper.
If this paper and the TV news would give Bernie Sanders the same amount of time and ink as you give Trump Hillary's smile wouldn't be quite so bright.
If this paper and the TV news would give Bernie Sanders the same amount of time and ink as you give Trump Hillary's smile wouldn't be quite so bright.
11
Seriously Bob? When Bernie thinks he can woo Trump supporters, you still support him? In what universe does Bernie live?
donald trump can be virtual president of the cyber-country. mrs. clinton will be president of the brick and mortar country.
1
Trump is dangerous. He's weak on policy and has a team of professionals drafting his proposals substantiative issues; his bravado and plain speak is his allure. Yet, in a field of candidates this large, his failsafe rejoinder is "When I'm attacked, I punch back." A mere distraction to change the subject - Look at the shiny object over here.
Jeb! is right, Trump isn't a serious candidate. During the debates whenever someone on stage begins to penetrate Trump's shield of invisibility, once again, he interrupts and dominates the discussion.
In order for any serious candidates to rise in this GOP folly of a primary, they must press Trump in the debate on issues and not engage in this petty back and forth simply because he's leading in the polls as well as dismiss him on the campaign trail for the blithering jackass that he is.
Jeb! is right, Trump isn't a serious candidate. During the debates whenever someone on stage begins to penetrate Trump's shield of invisibility, once again, he interrupts and dominates the discussion.
In order for any serious candidates to rise in this GOP folly of a primary, they must press Trump in the debate on issues and not engage in this petty back and forth simply because he's leading in the polls as well as dismiss him on the campaign trail for the blithering jackass that he is.
5
Like cornered animals, the death throes of failing organizations can be dangerous. Case in point, the IS-inspired attacks in Paris and US. As their caliphate fantasy slips from their grasp, IS has become increasingly desperate.
The Republican Party, whose base is literally dying out, now comprise only 26% of registered voters nationwide. Party leaders lurch from one anti-democratic policy idea to the next. Why should anyone be surprised that a plurality would support a misogynist, racist xenophobe? Thankfully, 40% of 26% is only 10% - Trump may win the GOP nomination, but is unelectable.
Let's just hope Republicans don't destroy too much of our republic on the way out.
The Republican Party, whose base is literally dying out, now comprise only 26% of registered voters nationwide. Party leaders lurch from one anti-democratic policy idea to the next. Why should anyone be surprised that a plurality would support a misogynist, racist xenophobe? Thankfully, 40% of 26% is only 10% - Trump may win the GOP nomination, but is unelectable.
Let's just hope Republicans don't destroy too much of our republic on the way out.
9
I think this analysis is fundamentally wrong. Trump is not a result of our collectively shifting to social media for news; he's the result of the Republican party's effort, over years, to discredit conventional sources of news. They've convinced their voters not to trust mainstream media, scientists, economists, and sociologists, and have created their own channels of trusted media -- FOX news and Rush Limbaugh among them. This has worked well for them, but it was vulnerable to takeover by someone as skilled at using the media as Trump is. The result is that he's now in the control room, using the same techniques the Republican party pioneered to keep form losing control and even increase their power in the face of opinion, and facts, that don't agree with their agenda, to turn GOP voters against the Republican establishment. And they deserve every bit of it.
16
Third paragraph in, last line: "......and more siloed by ideology." Or one can rearranged the letters in 'siloed' (another new word to emerge) to spell 'soiled' and be equally true.
2
A hate filled media reporting on a hate filled candidate.
No wonder the public is saying that they don't believe anyone.
No wonder the public is saying that they don't believe anyone.
5
No arms are being twisted to write about this guy and frankly circulation won't tank if the coverage stops. He is tabloid fodder.
2
COMB OVER. He could be the first president in US history with a comb over, and a bad one at that. This is not meant as a mean or superficial observation. It displays in unequivocal terms how deeply insecure and narcissistic Trump truly is. Not a good quality in a true leader.
4
James Garfield had a combover. As did Benjamin Harrison. Even good old Ike sported one, but further back on his head. Not to mention those presidents with wigs…
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
2
OK, someone tweet this: DT probably said "Make 'Merica Grate Again" and the spell checkers fixed it to say "Make America Great Again". Now we "grate on" almost everyone. The scary part might be that if DT will casually hit the "send" button on a derogatory tweet to get "buzz"; would he hit the "launch" button on the suitcase with the same intuitive skill?
2
I wonder, if Facebook had a "Dislike" button, how many of those Trump would get? I'd be using them pretty darned often. Matter of fact, for the rest of the GOP herd as well.
4
Trump is proof that scalp reduction surgery can have an adverse effect on intelligence. We have had a history of electing Republican candidates that are living cartoon characters, as far back as Nixon. Trump fits a decades long model of GOP buffoonery.
5
DT's we have withdrawing from the addicting virus of image confirmation.
Tell us what we want to hear and stimulate our world view of what's really important so that we are caught up in the maelstrom of illusion/delusion created by a self-centered sick culture.
You got the DT's, like me? Are you hung up on "emotional contagion"? Do you wanna "watch" the world go down to ashes and dust? Are you "along for the ride" powerless to do anything other than be a spectator to the end of the world as we know it?
Welcome to the DT Club, the weaning of a generation from political programming via the old school. It's a brand new ball game where the old rules are out the window. Now we just go for the solar plexus and the gut. Only a visceral connection is required.
Superficial, glancing ricochets from the lips of a wild shootist catches our censuring attention and helps us focus our anger and frustration with a world gone mad over sensation and emotional imagery. There is a certainty in the mean-spirited evil of doubling down on what's wrong. When you got the DT's nothing is wholesome, proper, or righteous. EVERYTHING has a hook, a con, a trick, a scam, a way to get over, get out of the way and become a WINNER.
Not a single loser, never did anything wrong, always got everything right, we can blow off reason, reserve, kindness, understanding, and all other weak. humane, compassionate, empathic responses to a mad mad world.
Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good dark knight.
Tell us what we want to hear and stimulate our world view of what's really important so that we are caught up in the maelstrom of illusion/delusion created by a self-centered sick culture.
You got the DT's, like me? Are you hung up on "emotional contagion"? Do you wanna "watch" the world go down to ashes and dust? Are you "along for the ride" powerless to do anything other than be a spectator to the end of the world as we know it?
Welcome to the DT Club, the weaning of a generation from political programming via the old school. It's a brand new ball game where the old rules are out the window. Now we just go for the solar plexus and the gut. Only a visceral connection is required.
Superficial, glancing ricochets from the lips of a wild shootist catches our censuring attention and helps us focus our anger and frustration with a world gone mad over sensation and emotional imagery. There is a certainty in the mean-spirited evil of doubling down on what's wrong. When you got the DT's nothing is wholesome, proper, or righteous. EVERYTHING has a hook, a con, a trick, a scam, a way to get over, get out of the way and become a WINNER.
Not a single loser, never did anything wrong, always got everything right, we can blow off reason, reserve, kindness, understanding, and all other weak. humane, compassionate, empathic responses to a mad mad world.
Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good dark knight.
Trump is a necessary evil. No RATIONAL voter really thinks that this billionaire reality “star”, with several bankruptcies and failed marriages (this once mattered to his “constituency”) under his belt, can ever be considered presidential. Trump’s greatest accomplishment has been to highlight the worst features of the other, more “serious”, and often Koch-funded, conservative candidates: he has, with his rather large microphone, noted the staggering failures of politicians like Walker and Christie. Why is this a good thing? Because conservatives would never listen to this coming from someone like Sanders or Clinton. Trump has their attention, and this is quite a conundrum for conservatives. I would encourage everyone on the left to stop slamming Trump—he is going to fracture the right worst than the Tea Party— and just sit back watch Bernie Sanders sweep into office.
This is the beginning of the world depicted in the comedy film, Idiocracy.
This is the beginning of the world depicted in the comedy film, Idiocracy.
4
Obvi the Donald is ridiculous. However, as opposed to HRC and BHO who just keep saying that ACA is terrific, even as costs metastasize, major insurers like United are opting out and others are raising premiums, the (again, admittedly ludicrous) Trump is making noises about approving of single payer!! So OK, that is NOT ridiculous, that is a major issue. We know from Steven Brill's fine book "America's Bitter Pill" that the White House sidelined cost controllers in favor of getting lower income Americans covered. Now middle income taxpayers are paying the price for that decision. In this respect Trump actually seems attuned to the working classes. So why is the Times so singularly focused on his xenophobic comments? Partly it's the inchoate nature of the Donald's own comments to be sure. But he has some interesting, if possibly simplistic things to say about trade with China as well. So, a little less blah, blah blah about how he's the candidate of hate and xenophobia, and a little more about what might REALLY be resonating with voters would be nice from America's "Paper of Record". Unless you all just want to stick with the "new Mussolini" narrative. For sure that's what FOX News would do.
5
If Trump becomes president, I will dust off the history books about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad & take some lessons. Non-violent resistance will become the order of the day. We cannot have another Trail of Tears (for our Hispanic friends) nor can we have another internment camp (for our Muslim friends). We have to redouble our efforts to convince our friends and family that Mussolini, er, Trump will be a disaster for our country, especially if he gets Cruz as a running mate in order to make his efforts sound more, ahem, constitutional.
2
No matter what we might think of Donald Trump, the reality is he has tapped into a segment of society that has been left behind. These people have real fears and concerns. They are not an insane fringe no matter how their fear chooses to voice itself. Their fears are real and palpable. They creep in on all of us but the most privileged.
We owe Donald Trump a nod for exposing a fomenting and dangerous segment of the population. We as a society, need to recognize this unrest and begin to address it. There is a validity to their fears that they are being replaced by low wage unskilled workers as their livelihoods slip away.
The problem is we have become a nation of the Corporations, for the Corporations and by the Corporations. We tailor our policy to what works best for the wealthy leaving the rest of the nation behind. That is real and as more people slip into poverty and lack of opportunity the "supporters of Donald Trump" will grow in size and impact.
What Donald Trump says or how he delivers it is moot. We need to address the anger and lack of opportunity that underpins the anger. We need to move back to nation that legislates for the people rather than the oligarchs.
We owe Donald Trump a nod for exposing a fomenting and dangerous segment of the population. We as a society, need to recognize this unrest and begin to address it. There is a validity to their fears that they are being replaced by low wage unskilled workers as their livelihoods slip away.
The problem is we have become a nation of the Corporations, for the Corporations and by the Corporations. We tailor our policy to what works best for the wealthy leaving the rest of the nation behind. That is real and as more people slip into poverty and lack of opportunity the "supporters of Donald Trump" will grow in size and impact.
What Donald Trump says or how he delivers it is moot. We need to address the anger and lack of opportunity that underpins the anger. We need to move back to nation that legislates for the people rather than the oligarchs.
111
"he has tapped into a segment of society that has been left behind."
Yes! And to these people who have been left behind, Hillary Clinton epitomizes those who have enabled this abandonment by the investor class with, for example, the Clintons' promotion of free trade agreements, H1B visas, and lax enforcement of immigration laws, all backed up with patronizing and disingenuous speech about her concern for 'workin' folks'. Those who think Hillary will have an easy time against Trump in general election seem to be the same people who have been predicting Trump's demise, for months now.
Yes! And to these people who have been left behind, Hillary Clinton epitomizes those who have enabled this abandonment by the investor class with, for example, the Clintons' promotion of free trade agreements, H1B visas, and lax enforcement of immigration laws, all backed up with patronizing and disingenuous speech about her concern for 'workin' folks'. Those who think Hillary will have an easy time against Trump in general election seem to be the same people who have been predicting Trump's demise, for months now.
6
Bernie Sanders is the candidate who speaks for those who have been left behind. But the media is in love with Hillary and Donald.
7
i am perplexed that you feel that trump supporters are those who have "slip(ped) into poverty and lack of opportunity". why on earth would this group flock to him when Bernie Sanders is the only one who is proposing a solid way forward for them? it is so obvious that trump cares for nothing and no one other than himself. trump supporters are the angry mob who just wants someone to pay. very scary.
3
Hate, fear of the other, and anger have been used for decades to swing the public to believe one thing or another. Indeed, it is a hallmark of the American political system to capitalize on the emotions of the public rather than to use reason and level-headed thinking to win arguments. None of this is new. What is different is the emergence of 24-hour news channels and the rise of social media in using hate, fear of the other and anger to sway the public. The rise of Donald Trump isn't so shocking in this context other than the question, why did it take so long? FOX News, CNN, and even major networks like ABC have used this shock-and-awe approach to information for years. Donald Trump is little more than the Frankenstein monster of this approach to public persuasion. What is truly ironic is how their own monster, Trump, has both manipulated and at the same time dismissed the media to his advantage. They may argue they do it for the ratings, or some other benign reason, but the truth is this - they created a culture of fear and hate, and now it may be out of their reach. Perhaps they could try using reason, objectivity, and the risk of being a little boring above the hubris of promoting themselves their own agendas for the sake of advertising dollars.
8
Several points re Ms. Roller's piece. First, DT never said that ALL Mexicans were killers and rapists, but that among those coming across the porous border were some fairly bad hombres, those who have done harm to the citizenry, whereupon they would seek shelter in a sanctuary city. DT's figure of 645,000 felonies committed by illegal crossovers has never been disputed, nor has his contention that we do not know exactly how many of the undocumented r here, which is equally disquieting. Second, as if she were a member of the academic left, Ms.Roller portrays DT's supporters as "insular," a euphemism for "stupid,"unconditionally supported by white nationalists, a code name in her world for Nazi, and more broadly as gullible and reactive.Thus,Roller shares the same contempt for "petits blancs" as does Obama, when he spoke of them as clinging to their guns,bibles and anti immigrant beliefs.Third, she quotes all these academic sources as if they were the ultimate judges of what is acceptable in a campaign and its candidate. How tedious!DT is the vox populi of millions of the voiceless who have suffered, and until now have had no spokesman.I do not think that Ms. Roller has much sympathy for this socio economic category, or has had much contact with them.Her smear piece is unworthy of publication in a great newspaper.
7
Donald Trump is like a carrier and spreader of Norovirus. The things he says make healthy people feel nauseous. The people who enjoy his viral spewing have apparently been inoculated against him by their own fear, insecurity, ignorance, racism, misogyny and lack of self-awareness.
6
the last paragraph is the most revealing; if one cannot distinguish between the performance in office, of the worst president in histry, and Obama, what's the use arguing?
2
I wonder how long it will take the number of comments here to break 1000
2
I agree his rhetoric is inherent in his personality; so he will continue to think he is better than anyone else, including those voting.
If you like being looked upon as a fool, Trump is your man. This is not a slam; it's an analysis consistent with the author's point of view regarding Trumps point of view, and it is documented by "Professors."
"Gee, you look nice." He laughs.
If you like being looked upon as a fool, Trump is your man. This is not a slam; it's an analysis consistent with the author's point of view regarding Trumps point of view, and it is documented by "Professors."
"Gee, you look nice." He laughs.
Donald Trump is able to convince many that he is a brilliant leader through tough-guy posturing. he is not new to the method. Both Mussolini and Hitler used similar projections of being strongmen that could restore greatness to a nation portrayed as weak and failing. Trump honed his skills on Reality TV shows. Look at films of the facial expressions of Mussolini during his speeches and then look at Trump's expressions and poses. There is much in common. Trump also plays on nationalism and xenophobia. His ex-wife Ivana said that he kept the writings Hitler by his bedside. The American Heritage Dictionary noted, fascism is: “A system of government that exercises a dictatorship of the extreme right, typically through the merging of state and business leadership, together with belligerent nationalism.” Trump is a fascist and with the ignorance and passivity of the American electorate at an all-time high, he does represent a true danger not to be ignored.
5
What a farce it is to read about "virality" in this heavily censored place.
7
Why should we be surprised that Donald Trump is a hit on social media? So are video's of monkey's smelling their own butt. While the monkey video may be entertaining, its challenging to see what value to humanity the Donald brings.
The media success of Donald Trump comes from years of Hate Radio and Don't Think Television seeding the fields of society, he is more a symptom of a social disease than the leader of a cause. This lesion, this Trump is the result of an egocentric and driven political class wanting to expeditiously drive as many sheep in one direction as possible, the driving mechanisms used were fear and hate. The ultimate result of encouraging such mass fear and stupidity was never anticipated or regarded as important, better results in the next voting cycle was the only objective.
The creation of a voting class that is tone deaf to rationality and is bereft of the critical thinking skills required to function in a civil society has happened before. Imagine how popular Adolph Hitler would have been on Twitter?
The headlines should not read "Trump Leads the Polls" but, "Here is Another Result From the Corporate Control of Our Culture"
After corporations were declared to be "people" a group of psychologists decided to test corporations to see what kind of people they were. Corporations were found to be psychopaths; shameless, self serving and as destructive as need be in serving their self interest, and so we find is Donald Trump.
The media success of Donald Trump comes from years of Hate Radio and Don't Think Television seeding the fields of society, he is more a symptom of a social disease than the leader of a cause. This lesion, this Trump is the result of an egocentric and driven political class wanting to expeditiously drive as many sheep in one direction as possible, the driving mechanisms used were fear and hate. The ultimate result of encouraging such mass fear and stupidity was never anticipated or regarded as important, better results in the next voting cycle was the only objective.
The creation of a voting class that is tone deaf to rationality and is bereft of the critical thinking skills required to function in a civil society has happened before. Imagine how popular Adolph Hitler would have been on Twitter?
The headlines should not read "Trump Leads the Polls" but, "Here is Another Result From the Corporate Control of Our Culture"
After corporations were declared to be "people" a group of psychologists decided to test corporations to see what kind of people they were. Corporations were found to be psychopaths; shameless, self serving and as destructive as need be in serving their self interest, and so we find is Donald Trump.
8
Just step out of your happy holliday Starbucks and go into a dunkin donuts. look at the guy sitting at the table go over and explain why
1. illegal immigration is good for economic situation.
2. Trump is the bad guy when he is against iraq war.
3. why he needs to be faced with unvetted migrants.
4. why shipping jobs is good.
5. why Trump being only one for soc sec medicare is the risk.
6. how trumps lack of pc is the worst thing that can happen.
then leave go back to starbucks and say your education made you the smart one!
hillary the real neocon policy follower all the way into syria!
1. illegal immigration is good for economic situation.
2. Trump is the bad guy when he is against iraq war.
3. why he needs to be faced with unvetted migrants.
4. why shipping jobs is good.
5. why Trump being only one for soc sec medicare is the risk.
6. how trumps lack of pc is the worst thing that can happen.
then leave go back to starbucks and say your education made you the smart one!
hillary the real neocon policy follower all the way into syria!
13
thank you!
4
Instead you could tell the fellow about Bernie Sanders, and how he has had the same core set of beliefs all his life. How Bernie is also telling it like it is only Bernie has a plan. Not a series of incomprehensible rants against everyone else.
You could then tell this fellow that Trump has probably hired more illegal workers than he could possibly deport.
But since Bernie is not about hate, or indiscriminate anger, or any of the other ugly traits we find in right wing thinking, he probably won't pay any attention.
You could then tell this fellow that Trump has probably hired more illegal workers than he could possibly deport.
But since Bernie is not about hate, or indiscriminate anger, or any of the other ugly traits we find in right wing thinking, he probably won't pay any attention.
6
Sunday night I saw our new Prime Minister interviewed by the TV journalist from Dunkin Donuts (Tim Horton's here in Canada). You would be amazed how well he articulated a convincing argument for informed analysis.
Sadly the Starbuck's aficionados are no more understanding than your Dunkin Donut regulars. It is late 2015 and it is long overdue that we all study real American history and realize the world exists in shades of gray.
Donald is shining some very bright light in some very dark corners but as Jack Nicholson once told us "you can't handle the truth."
Donald is not selling truth he is selling Donald and this election only Bernie is selling the truth and that in 2016 America is a very hard sell.
We have created a technology that has given us a truly wealthy world and I am not yet sure if that is a curse or a blessing.
Sadly the Starbuck's aficionados are no more understanding than your Dunkin Donut regulars. It is late 2015 and it is long overdue that we all study real American history and realize the world exists in shades of gray.
Donald is shining some very bright light in some very dark corners but as Jack Nicholson once told us "you can't handle the truth."
Donald is not selling truth he is selling Donald and this election only Bernie is selling the truth and that in 2016 America is a very hard sell.
We have created a technology that has given us a truly wealthy world and I am not yet sure if that is a curse or a blessing.
3
Let's see, Trump has insulted latinos, women, the disabled, "the blacks", muslims, etc.
Add gays to the list. When Don Lemon of CNN asked Trump if he was homophobic, Trump said " I love everybody, the evangelicals...".
Furthermore, Trump met with black pastors, one of which has posted signs in front of his Harlem church that says gays should be stoned to death.
I suggest that black people read up on the "brownshirts" and how they were killed after doing the dirty work of the Nazis.
This is all "divide and conquer".
The Rainbow is not just gay, but has always included all oppressed people.
Trump will crumble if, say, muslims here in the U.S. hoist the Rainbow Flag.
Add gays to the list. When Don Lemon of CNN asked Trump if he was homophobic, Trump said " I love everybody, the evangelicals...".
Furthermore, Trump met with black pastors, one of which has posted signs in front of his Harlem church that says gays should be stoned to death.
I suggest that black people read up on the "brownshirts" and how they were killed after doing the dirty work of the Nazis.
This is all "divide and conquer".
The Rainbow is not just gay, but has always included all oppressed people.
Trump will crumble if, say, muslims here in the U.S. hoist the Rainbow Flag.
4
All the political experts got us to where we are today: living in a state of unprecedented fear. Brilliant image masters delivered the message we wanted to hear: "mission accomplished." Mission very far from accomplished. We bought the sizzle the sensible, experienced experts were selling; but there was no steak. The Chicken Littles have been running around yelling: You can't elect Rob Ford as mayor of the fourth largest city in North America! Yes, we can! You can't elect a young, spoiled drama teacher as Prime Minister of Canada! Yes, we can! You can't elect an unhinged socialist as leader of the British Labour Party! Yes, we can! You can't elect a narcissistic, bombastic reality show character as President of the United States! Maybe you can.
1
When Trump first emerged, I predicted that he would drop out of the race in favor of JEB! I came to rue that prediction. Now, I'm not sure I should rue it. Trump has exposed the maggot-ridden underbelly of America. He has kicked Bill Clinton's hornet nest. Trump is toast. But maybe JEB won't be the beneficiary. Note that Rubio is now backed by Trey Gowdy! What could be more pathetic than Trump?
2
Trump-Kardashian 2016!
7
Which Kardashian are you talking about?
There's a difference?
2
Or could be that our electorate is just plain lazy and dumb.
7
give that man a monte christo
Well, if the American electorate elect Trump, he will be standing alone except for the 50 or so Tea party conservatives. He will have no experience at governing and negotiating with 500 plus ego-centric politicians who have their own agendas and political capital (money).
I predict he will be like Sara Palin and quit the office of the presidency halfway through, probably describing it as a stupid job for stupid people.
I predict he will be like Sara Palin and quit the office of the presidency halfway through, probably describing it as a stupid job for stupid people.
3
He would quit, but like Nixon, it would be to avoid impeachment.
1
All true. And yet, and yet ...
To say Hitler was despicable, aside from being an obvious understatement and a statement of the obvious, is to overlook that his rhetoric was channeling very real, and not entirely unjustified, anger and discontent in the German population.
Listen to 'Another National Anthem' from Stephen Sondheim's 'Assassins', which encapsulates the emotions Trump (like Hitler) is channeling:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fN_9mGal1kc
What strikes one is that while some of the assassins - Hinckley, Moore, Guiteau, Fromme - are clearly cracked, Czolgosz's justification could have come from any number of NYT comments ('no one cared about the poor man's pain ... it is not right for one man to have so much service when other people have none') as could Zangara's. Even Booth, however despicable his racism, had a small degree of legitimate grievance in that Lincoln did suspend habeas corpus, and Sherman left the South in ruins. Sam Byck (the soloist; tried to kill Nixon) falls in the middle - he's cracked, and obviously not justified, but he does have a point. These people were sold a dream that failed.
This anger comes from somewhere. You need to parse it carefully and think, not merely dismiss it. Trump's tapped a vein, and it's bleeding. Pay attention. Because if you don't pay attention now, you will pay in something more costly later.
To say Hitler was despicable, aside from being an obvious understatement and a statement of the obvious, is to overlook that his rhetoric was channeling very real, and not entirely unjustified, anger and discontent in the German population.
Listen to 'Another National Anthem' from Stephen Sondheim's 'Assassins', which encapsulates the emotions Trump (like Hitler) is channeling:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fN_9mGal1kc
What strikes one is that while some of the assassins - Hinckley, Moore, Guiteau, Fromme - are clearly cracked, Czolgosz's justification could have come from any number of NYT comments ('no one cared about the poor man's pain ... it is not right for one man to have so much service when other people have none') as could Zangara's. Even Booth, however despicable his racism, had a small degree of legitimate grievance in that Lincoln did suspend habeas corpus, and Sherman left the South in ruins. Sam Byck (the soloist; tried to kill Nixon) falls in the middle - he's cracked, and obviously not justified, but he does have a point. These people were sold a dream that failed.
This anger comes from somewhere. You need to parse it carefully and think, not merely dismiss it. Trump's tapped a vein, and it's bleeding. Pay attention. Because if you don't pay attention now, you will pay in something more costly later.
6
If we still allowed a true political debate in this country the likes of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz wouldn't be so frightening. I remember when the Democratic and Republucan presidential conventions were not precasted and an actual process of debate among delegates took place to select candidates. These forums were not done deals. Candidates platforms were debated with the delegates ultimately deciding who the nominee would be. These things are now decided on social media, tv where the latest outrageous comment uttered by a candidate (or about a candidate) propels their "trending" status on Facebook or Twitter. The disturbing reality for me is that so many people cling to that inane internet caveat that "I checked this out on Snopes" so we are good to go.
2
It's an advertising truism: "Even if you hate my ad, at least you'll remember it." Trump is the personification of that truism…with a little help from the media, of course.
2
In 2015, "we" did not find Trump and his idiotic, racist, violent or misogynistic ideas worth talking about; you, in the mainstream media did. Our viral attraction to Trump did not force the NY Times and CNN to shove Trump down our collective throats day after day. The race to the bottom has been your fault.
Trump has been given free publicity by a corporate news media that loves selling that which can shock or inspire fear. Trump is a homegrown terrorist for some and the war on terror for others, but what he consistently does is sell popcorn for all sides of the news-as-entertainment industry.
Important, thoughtful ideas, like the kind put forth by Bernie Sanders, are not designed to sell popcorn. They are intended to fix real problems. That's why Bernie beats Trump handily head to head. He and his ideas are actually more popular than Trump's, but the news media refuses to talk about them. That is what must stop.
Trump has been given free publicity by a corporate news media that loves selling that which can shock or inspire fear. Trump is a homegrown terrorist for some and the war on terror for others, but what he consistently does is sell popcorn for all sides of the news-as-entertainment industry.
Important, thoughtful ideas, like the kind put forth by Bernie Sanders, are not designed to sell popcorn. They are intended to fix real problems. That's why Bernie beats Trump handily head to head. He and his ideas are actually more popular than Trump's, but the news media refuses to talk about them. That is what must stop.
209
'“Conservatives tend to be a lot more reactive to negative information and they also tend to be a lot more insular in nature, and they also tend to have less tolerance for ambiguity,” Professor Okdie said. “Conservatives would prefer a negative concrete statement to a slightly positive, uncertain statement.”'
Wonderful - the author found a liberal professor to make a "negative concrete statement" about conservatives. The readers lap it up because it fits into their prejudices about conservatives; it doesn't occur to them that they are no different.
Wonderful - the author found a liberal professor to make a "negative concrete statement" about conservatives. The readers lap it up because it fits into their prejudices about conservatives; it doesn't occur to them that they are no different.
2
The corporate media covers his every slur, in search of clicks. A national newspaper's op ed page is full of columns repeating Trump's comments ad nauseum and explaining his appeal over and over in only slightly different ways. This piece, for example. It takes two to tango.
7
“Conservatives tend to be a lot more reactive to negative information and they also tend to be a lot more insular in nature, and they also tend to have less tolerance for ambiguity,” Professor Okdie said. “Conservatives would prefer a negative concrete statement to a slightly positive, uncertain statement.”
********
FINALLY! An explanation of why I can never get through to the tea party members of my extended family, even when I offer them articles that have the facts at hand, because, as they say, anyone can write anything and it doesn't mean it is true.
********
FINALLY! An explanation of why I can never get through to the tea party members of my extended family, even when I offer them articles that have the facts at hand, because, as they say, anyone can write anything and it doesn't mean it is true.
3
"It is a lot easier to bamboozle a man than it is to get him to admit to being bamboozled" Mark Twain
3
Evidently "virality" in the US consists of providing a vehicle for the media to sell ads on.
2
The Republican Party has brought this disaster upon itself. The dislike of big government combined with their disrespect for and even hatred of Mr. Obama combined and mutated into hating anything to do with the Federal Government. So now they have a candidate with hateful rhetoric and no knowledge of or experience governing. They love big government when they need federal dollars for roads, bridges, floods, hurricanes, regulation of nuclear power plants, keeping us safe when flying, making certain our food is safe, funding cancer research, social security, unemployment compensation, etc., etc., but the Republican Party has convinced many Americans to ignore all that and just hate the Federal Government. So now they have Trump. They have exactly what they created.
133
Republicanism is denial that elegant government is even possible.
Once a year at Thanksgiving, I endure three hours of Trumpisms from by In-Laws. I manage this ordeal with a couple of glasses of wine and knowing it will end soon. But now, I am confronted with the Thanksgiving ordeal around the clock---if he ever becomes president I will immediately join AAA in hopes of protecting myself from the only strategy I know for getting through a day with Trump.
3
I have said or thought the same thing every time I see him on TV for years now.
"I wish he would just go away".
"I wish he would just go away".
He elicits "awe, anger and anxiety" among his twittering social media frenzied base? Bradley Okdie, a social psychologist at Ohio University at Newark avers that Conservatives share virality of content, especially if it provokes negative emotion. Trump's popularity among white nationalists and American bigots and angry people enjoying today's bread and circuses is clear as plastic wrap. All publicity for The Donald is good publicity, even bad publicity. In 1987, in Trump's "Art of the Deal" he wrote that "the press is going to write about you if you're a little different, a little outrageous...even a critical stodouble-barrelled blunderbuss rangery - hurtful personally - can be very valuable to your business." Donald Trump's business these days is to euchre the low-info American voters who are delighted and over the moon that The Donald has "gone viral" in their cyberworld! There's a mighty battle going on among the Republicans/Tea Party wannabe POTUSes in New Hampshire right now. Even President Clinton will be in Trump's verbal double-barrelled blunderbuss target range in New Hampshire! President Clinton is campaigning for his wife, Hillary at the same time the GOP is struttin' to win up there. If The Donald somehow comes out ahead of his unelectable colleagues - JEB! Bush, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, John Kasich - we will be closer to having a clown as President next year. Is Trump's past prologue?
1
For a long time now I have questioned the veracity of the news media when it came to reporting on well, just about anything. I would spend time trying to convince my neighbors and friends to think and critically analyze what they read, balance their judgements, etc. This holiday, around a neighbor's table, I listened to comments like, "it's Obama's fault, send all them rag heads home", and the best was, "We all have guns in our safes, let em do what they want." I left early, walked home to read about another person getting shot in Chicago.
I would suggest more serious investigative reporting and less carnival barking.
I would suggest more serious investigative reporting and less carnival barking.
8
Yet another article using typical thinking to describe an atypical candidate. No, he doesn't play by today's "rules" of acceptable speech and behavior.
Until his critics stop complaining because he doesn't think or act like they do, they will not grasp his appeal. They've now advanced to a narrative that his supporters are full of “hate, fear of the other, anger".
They still don't get it.
Until his critics stop complaining because he doesn't think or act like they do, they will not grasp his appeal. They've now advanced to a narrative that his supporters are full of “hate, fear of the other, anger".
They still don't get it.
9
He says what AACNY is thinking, then, is that it?
1
Fine - focus on Trump's policies and defend those rather than defending his blatant bigotry. And sorry, but calling out Trump's disgusting bigotry is not just being PC, it is being a member of a civilized society.
1
dpj:
"Disgusting bigotry" or refusal to temper his speech so as not to offend a protected identity group? There's nothing "civilized" about censoring speech to conform to ideology.
Blatant political correctness is equally offensive. It's time the PC crowd heard things that it doesn't want to hear. Time to listen and learn something. The echo chamber has veered way off the main road.
"Disgusting bigotry" or refusal to temper his speech so as not to offend a protected identity group? There's nothing "civilized" about censoring speech to conform to ideology.
Blatant political correctness is equally offensive. It's time the PC crowd heard things that it doesn't want to hear. Time to listen and learn something. The echo chamber has veered way off the main road.
1
Very interesting article. I learned that "Humans use mental shortcuts to process information quickly while conserving brain power." Furthermore I am informed that "conservatives are more likely to share a given piece of content than liberals are, especially if it provokes a negative emotion." And that conservatives believe "Donald Trump is telling them something they already believe, and they’re sharing it because they want other people to believe it too,”
In sum, we are using half our wits to spread our most negative and darkest political beliefs. The big lie - gone digital.
In sum, we are using half our wits to spread our most negative and darkest political beliefs. The big lie - gone digital.
3
Although this is an interesting op-Ed and probably correct as to how information is disseminated among those who support Trump, there is an underlying set of facts that progressive media are describing, but not fully confronting: Trump voters are not the brightest lights on the tree.
Yes, there are a few smart guys voting for Trump: a very few. For the most part, the people described in this op Ed, and the Trump voters whom I know, because I grew up in a white working-class neighborhood, are not merely uneducated, disappointed and angry. They are, in every way that counts to those of us who actually live in evidence-based world, not bright.
I will soon attend another family event at which a number of shouting, confused people will voice their support for Trump, who in their view, "tells it like it is." These people could not read a book from cover to cover if they tried – which they won't, because they haven't read a book since high school.
Yes, as the author of the op Ed writes, they get most of their news from Facebook and Twitter. Before that, it was the tabloids, news breaks on the radio, and the 10 pm. TV news, which they watched before going to bed.
These voters look for charismatic leaders who will magically solve their problems, often choosing demagogues. We got lucky with FDR – a charismatic leader who also happened to be responsible. The grandparents amd great-grandparents of the Trumpies would have followed Mussolini, had he shown up on the scene in 1932.
Yes, there are a few smart guys voting for Trump: a very few. For the most part, the people described in this op Ed, and the Trump voters whom I know, because I grew up in a white working-class neighborhood, are not merely uneducated, disappointed and angry. They are, in every way that counts to those of us who actually live in evidence-based world, not bright.
I will soon attend another family event at which a number of shouting, confused people will voice their support for Trump, who in their view, "tells it like it is." These people could not read a book from cover to cover if they tried – which they won't, because they haven't read a book since high school.
Yes, as the author of the op Ed writes, they get most of their news from Facebook and Twitter. Before that, it was the tabloids, news breaks on the radio, and the 10 pm. TV news, which they watched before going to bed.
These voters look for charismatic leaders who will magically solve their problems, often choosing demagogues. We got lucky with FDR – a charismatic leader who also happened to be responsible. The grandparents amd great-grandparents of the Trumpies would have followed Mussolini, had he shown up on the scene in 1932.
7
Any Critical Thinking member of the Electorate should cheer Mr. Trump as his 'shock and awe' Campaign for the Nomination for the Presidency of the Republican party in 2016 could easily lead to the downfall of the Freedom Caucus, (Tea Party Types), in the House of Congress.
Hopefully the Electorate will consign that group to the Dustbin of History much like the No Nothing Party of the 1850s. It also might bring about a change to the GOP through their current bias of kneeling before the Elitists among us and awakening them to the fact that in order to govern they must first show that they can lead with policies for "All the People" and not just the few. However, this writer seriously doubts this will happen in the near term.
Hopefully the Electorate will consign that group to the Dustbin of History much like the No Nothing Party of the 1850s. It also might bring about a change to the GOP through their current bias of kneeling before the Elitists among us and awakening them to the fact that in order to govern they must first show that they can lead with policies for "All the People" and not just the few. However, this writer seriously doubts this will happen in the near term.
1
Perhaps the NYT's should be less concerned with Trump's presence on the internet and take some time to ask if the liberal political agenda actually passes the common sense test. For example, Trump polls well with Hispanic voters even after his crude description of large numbers of immigrants. Why is this? Because he actually acknowledging a problem rather than ignoring unmitigated immigration and full automatic amnesty. Wake up, Times, you're not actually the smarter man in the room.
10
"Trump polls well with Hispanic voters"
If you consider 82% UNFAVORABLE polling well, then go for it.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/02/politics/donald-trump-hispanics-jeb-bush/i...
Personally, I find the numbers very reassuring too.
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
If you consider 82% UNFAVORABLE polling well, then go for it.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/02/politics/donald-trump-hispanics-jeb-bush/i...
Personally, I find the numbers very reassuring too.
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
3
"Trump polls well with hispanics". data, please because this reminds me of the famous Megyn Kelly quote to Rove when he was shocked that Fox news was calling Ohio for Obama - "are you saying it's still in play because you really think that, r because you want it to be true?"
1
Donald Trump's popularity comes from the fact that he is saying what everyone is thinking but feels they shouldn't talk about. Americans are cowed by political correctness, self-censorship, being afraid to be called racist, sexist, homophobic and any number of PC epithets -- all of which have lost any legitimate objective validity and are now just a way of intimidating people.
Even for leftists, if they stop and think about it, Trump is a tonic that invigorates the atmosphere. True, they have had their scare tactics taken away but it's also brought a lot of issues to the fore that they have opinions on as well. Every election should be like this and we need more candidates with Trump's courage across the political spectrum.
2016 is going to be a fascinating year and I'm looking forward to it. I'm also looking forward to the time when we can all be honest about this freak we have had for a president for the last two terms. Everybody was so afraid of being called a "racist" that Obama got away with a performance that would have made any White candidate a one-term President. When he leaves office perhaps people will be more willing to speak their minds and I hope they do.
Even for leftists, if they stop and think about it, Trump is a tonic that invigorates the atmosphere. True, they have had their scare tactics taken away but it's also brought a lot of issues to the fore that they have opinions on as well. Every election should be like this and we need more candidates with Trump's courage across the political spectrum.
2016 is going to be a fascinating year and I'm looking forward to it. I'm also looking forward to the time when we can all be honest about this freak we have had for a president for the last two terms. Everybody was so afraid of being called a "racist" that Obama got away with a performance that would have made any White candidate a one-term President. When he leaves office perhaps people will be more willing to speak their minds and I hope they do.
6
"...he is saying what everyone is thinking but feels they shouldn't talk about."
So if they don't talk about it how in the world do you know they think it?
You think about that, as you demand that "leftists, if they stop and think about it."
Your oft-parroted shibboleth makes zero sense.
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
So if they don't talk about it how in the world do you know they think it?
You think about that, as you demand that "leftists, if they stop and think about it."
Your oft-parroted shibboleth makes zero sense.
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
3
Here's a bulletin just handed me:
On the Internet, "everyone" means "me and my mother."
On the Internet, "everyone" means "me and my mother."
1
I do not find Trump invigorating and he is not saying what I am thinking. I would think we would aspire to be a civil society, and Trump is not civil. It has nothing to do with "political correctness" which is meaningless.
1
Is Trump the role model that Republicans want for their children? We will be a society where bullies reign.
3
with unlimited campaign contributions, we are already there.
The act of "sharing" on these social media platforms appears to be mostly impulsive and instinctual. I don't think that many of the people sharing Trump's posts are doing so after carefully considering the substance of the message. I would bet that he's the most followed simply BECAUSE he's the most followed. It's the same reason that such horrible music is allowed to succeed in today's culture - no one's really LISTENING - they're just participating.
I demand that Donald J. Trump tell us the date that America was great. This way we (I) will have a reference point so when he makes America great again we can say, "Mission Accomplished." Just when was it Donald?
6
Sometimes the Sanest reaction to an insane situation reaction....is Insanity.
We are in a Zone of life that has been Trumped by Trump, following a year of media coverage...given to one man's massive Ego. I, for one, believe he will walk away Before the Caucus, having gained a Year of Free material for his own book, "The Presidential Book".....the Joke of the Jerk.
We are in a Zone of life that has been Trumped by Trump, following a year of media coverage...given to one man's massive Ego. I, for one, believe he will walk away Before the Caucus, having gained a Year of Free material for his own book, "The Presidential Book".....the Joke of the Jerk.
1
"....more than half of Facebook and Twitter users get their news through" social media sites
Stupid is as stupid does.
Stupid is as stupid does.
5
"[T]hat can mean that things that are not true go viral."
No! You don't say!
No! You don't say!
3
Even MSNBC, which used to pass for a liberal network, is deep in the throes of Trumpmania, parsing his every word and even -- God help us -- broadcasting his rallies live. There's no avoiding this man unless you go completely off the grid.
3
This is an odd and somewhat insulting piece psychoanalyzing conservatives. Why not psychoanalyze democrats? All this running-down of anyone with an opposing view as stupid or shallow, wow. One would think all this hostility would be directed at the president, who took the liberals for a ride promising ridiculous things and not delivering. It was interesting to watch an entire generation of young democrats learn for itself what a carpetbagger is.
We shall see what Trump actually does when elected. He'll likely not accomplish everything, but who cares as long as he gets the biggest issues resolved. That will be far far more than we've seen.
We shall see what Trump actually does when elected. He'll likely not accomplish everything, but who cares as long as he gets the biggest issues resolved. That will be far far more than we've seen.
4
"Why not psychoanalyze democrats?"
You tell 'em, Sister Soldier.
You tell 'em, Sister Soldier.
1
It's all about emotional mirroring. Trump is a master at mirroring what many voters think and feel, while denigrating and branding those who oppose him as (the options are endless) stupid, weak, low energy, or losers. His comments are so out of bounds from the normal political rhethoric that the media must cover it ad nauseam. His polarizing words are intentional and he has hitched his political wagon to the belief that there are enough voters enraged with Washington and the media to make him president. He is, in the eyes of those who support him, the mythical dragon slayer, who will bring retribution to those who have rigged the democratic process, i,e., the elites, career politicians, and political parties. It is an epic battle for his followers, who will never abandon him.
2
Please correct the lead on this piece. Trump has not led in "most national polls." - An important qualifier to that phrase is missing. Trump has led in most national polls about who Republicans may choose to run for president. He DOES NOT lead in polls in which voters are asked their choice for next president. Both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders lead Trump in those national polls.
Clinton polls here: (http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/us/general_electi...
Sanders polls here: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/us/general_electi...
Clinton polls here: (http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/us/general_electi...
Sanders polls here: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/us/general_electi...
12
AlaskaMatt. Yes! The writer who has succumbed to virality should need to get her facts straight. That said, I don't rule out Trump going all the way to the White House because if he becomes the nominee the GOP will unite behind him and dish out just as much dirt as the candidate himself. If Democrats are smart they'll nominate Bernie because he doesn't have the baggage (mostly but not entirely undeserved) that Hillary has. The GOP has ignored Bernie but has a library of decades' worth of opposition research on Hillary.
Donald trump is merely on of the clowns on the GOP clown bus that has been created by the media.
1
so his supporters are made up by the media too? For a politician to be doing this well, among any base, he must be saying something of intense interest to that audience.
3
Did you forget the scare quotes around the letters G, O and P?
1
It seems I have prompted two non sequitur comments (so far.) I was referring to the media and not Donald Trump’s supporters. His supporters, I think it is reasonable to conclude, are ill-informed.
1
• “In a way, it represents what we as a society think is worth talking about.”
A dumbed-down America.
A dumbed-down America.
3
Quoting all these academic "experts" is not what is needed to understand Trump. Rather, some attention to the facts is what this reporter might have done. Trump is appealing to a percentage of very conservative and in some cases ignorant potential voters on the Republican side. His appeal is to the least common denominator among that distinct minority of voters, people who like him are thoughtless and uninformed. And there's absolutely nothing new about this kind of degraded populist appeal. Try reading any elementary history of the US from the 1920s onward for precedents. It will come as no surprise that many voters are attracted to someone who like them is ignorant and full of simple-minded notions encompassing xenophobia and crude nativism, to say nothing of mindless bellecosity.
7
If we need more proof of these McLuhanesque/Kardashian theories about personalities and social media today, note how Trump follows the viral footsteps of our former crack-smoking, texting-while-driving, minority bashing mayor Rob Ford. Mayor Ford's outrageous antics were devoured by media and social media followers alike. He almost never apologized and sadly might even have been re-elected if he hadn't taken himself out of the race for cancer treatment.
6
Count me among the more Jurassic of that 25% of adults that not only doesn't use, but absolutely refuses to consider participating in, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or any of the flood of social networking apps that have not only coarsened relationships but turned them into oceans-wide cesspools only molecules deep. I have never "Friended" or "Liked" anyone with my clamshell cell phone or kitchen table laptop. I have many friends and like nearly every one I meet. But I will never "join" any online collection of misfits who seem to be afraid to shake another person's hand, put an arm around a shoulder, and share an actual physical belly laugh instead of expressing my mirth with LOL or ROTFL on a 3-inch screen.
I say "misfit" but apparently I'm the real misfit here, statistically, anyway. Fine. I'll take it.
Donald Trump speaks only in provocative sound bites. There is a sound reason for that. And that's because Trump's knowledge on any subject is, like my description of the "relationships" above, only molecules deep but, unlike them, the width is measured in millimeters.
And this is the man we want as leader of the Free World.
I fault the authors of these societal diseases --Zuckerberg chief among them-- for this epidemic of "viral" (and here's the real victim of this deadly infection) communication.
I say "misfit" but apparently I'm the real misfit here, statistically, anyway. Fine. I'll take it.
Donald Trump speaks only in provocative sound bites. There is a sound reason for that. And that's because Trump's knowledge on any subject is, like my description of the "relationships" above, only molecules deep but, unlike them, the width is measured in millimeters.
And this is the man we want as leader of the Free World.
I fault the authors of these societal diseases --Zuckerberg chief among them-- for this epidemic of "viral" (and here's the real victim of this deadly infection) communication.
6
The US is one pathethic orgy of desperate self-promotion.
2
people support trumo because they know medIan is surpressing just like your doing know! Trump 2016!
1
You stayed it! Your common sure hit the pail right on the head.
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
4
Dude. Learn how to spell.
1
This incoherent message tells me all I need to know about who Trump's supporters are. Missing capitalizations, misspellings ad nauseam, and two !! exclamation points. And all this in just sixteen words. Imagine what the writer might have accomplished in a paragraph.
8
I don't give much credence to generalities as stated in this article. It's almost as if authors think that if they quote somebody with a PhD, that the opinion is true. The generalities about conservatives as presented are suspect. Not only are conservatives reduced to lab rats, but it's absurd to think that tendencies are that broad. I know more conservatives that don't fit the author's mold than do. However, if preaching to the choir makes good reading - which is what the author implies that conservatives are likely to do - oh well.
Donald Trump's appeal is almost apolitical in that it's a sign of the times, and it cuts across every swath: conservative, liberal, old, young, etc. I watched Star Wars over the holiday, and was struck by the attempt at adrenalin pumping violence. Donald Trump is another attempt at an adrenalin rush in an age where very little commands our long or earnest attention. As we demand ever escalating acute emotional responses, overwhelmed senses via outrageous performances, we are actually inuring ourselves to the very thing we seek: profound experience. Wisdom, trust and leadership come from a very different place so I fear for civilization.
Donald Trump's appeal is almost apolitical in that it's a sign of the times, and it cuts across every swath: conservative, liberal, old, young, etc. I watched Star Wars over the holiday, and was struck by the attempt at adrenalin pumping violence. Donald Trump is another attempt at an adrenalin rush in an age where very little commands our long or earnest attention. As we demand ever escalating acute emotional responses, overwhelmed senses via outrageous performances, we are actually inuring ourselves to the very thing we seek: profound experience. Wisdom, trust and leadership come from a very different place so I fear for civilization.
4
Where was all the critique of Neocons running for president with the extreme policys. no where. Christie is war monger yet you go against trump in artical one after another.
1
I refuse to refer to you-know-who as anything but Trumpolini because he reminds me so much of another posturing bully, albeit Italianate. What I find so embarrassing as an American is that the obvious is going over the heads of my fellow Americans, namely that Trumpolini is a thin-skinned hotheaded needy billionaire manifesting the personality disorder of sociopathy & thereby thoroughly unfit for dogcatching much less the presidency & the capacity to push the button for nuclear annihilation.
3
The saying goes, "Campaign in poetry, govern in prose." If so, Trump's campaign is like a bad rap song in 140 character chunks, and I suspect he would govern in comic book thought balloons.
6
Yes, it would seem that Mr Trump has a virus, and he is infecting quite a number of Americans. Time for a vaccine.
5
"We have met the enemy and he is us." - Pogo
7
Why does the press hate Trump so much? I don't know. But he walked off the street, not just an amateur but a complete noob and smoked the "best and brightest" candidates we have in the USA. THAT is the story. In any other field it would be unthinkable and impossible. But Trump did it. The citizens are impressed, but the press and politicians can only criticize him - pretty amazing. Why weren't his supporters being satisfied before he arrived? Why were those issues not addressed? Why was their such a vacuum for him to fill? Why don't politicians learn from Trump? Why is the press so lame? Why does the press lack credibility?
There is only 1 story here. Trump walked in off the street, a complete noob and blew up the whole system, exposed the huge credibility lack in the press and the incompetence of the establishment politicians. The end.
There is only 1 story here. Trump walked in off the street, a complete noob and blew up the whole system, exposed the huge credibility lack in the press and the incompetence of the establishment politicians. The end.
8
Great critique of the policies Trump is proposing, well analyzed, really helpful. And his "success" - what exactly would that be?
Not the end. Unless you think the entire significance of politics is to see who wins.
Trump's words and style appeal to a large number of people. It's really that simple.
So the question is not why Trump keeps going viral. It's why his supporters are so angry and disenfranchised. How did we get here and what are the other candidates going to do to include perspectives that have been empowered by Trump and are obviously are not going away.
So the question is not why Trump keeps going viral. It's why his supporters are so angry and disenfranchised. How did we get here and what are the other candidates going to do to include perspectives that have been empowered by Trump and are obviously are not going away.
4
Bernie's supporters aren't angry and disenfranchised? Bernie plays the "anger" card quite well and often. He never fails to rail against corporations and the rich.
Bernie likes his supporters good and angry too (for the "revolution"). He just has to convince Trump voters to be angry at the same parties that he's targeting.
Bernie likes his supporters good and angry too (for the "revolution"). He just has to convince Trump voters to be angry at the same parties that he's targeting.
1
Good analogy. Trump as virus. The question is, who's most like a virus? Trump, Cruz, or Rubio?
2
People try to say things nicely, but nobody listens. Worse, they characterize the speaker as a "racist" or a "bigot" which cuts off all further discussion or thought.
In 1968, Paul Ehrlich published "the Population Bomb," which argued that population growth would ultimately decrease quality of life.
But nobody listened then, would the antidote would have been comparatively easy. Instead we waited as population created ever larger cities.
Now our scientists talk about global warming, which truth be told, is just a delayed impact of "too many people on the planet."
Yet again, we don't want to hear the message. So when we hear of rampant poverty in our ghettos, when we hear of millions of Americans not being able to afford health care, we look for a scapegoat. For liberals it is the "wealthy."
This is not to say that we don't need more redistribution. It's just that by itself, redistribution doesn't work.
Like the theologians of old, we ask our intellectuals, our economists, political scientists and sociologists to "explain away" the problems we have with too many people.
And they have been amazingly effective in preventing us from seeing the true nature of the problem.
Economics, political science and sociology have been captured by "wishful thinking."
In fact our universities now have departments of "black studies" and "feminist studies" which engage in advocacy rather than the "dispassionate search for truth."
We have lost the integrity of our institutions.
In 1968, Paul Ehrlich published "the Population Bomb," which argued that population growth would ultimately decrease quality of life.
But nobody listened then, would the antidote would have been comparatively easy. Instead we waited as population created ever larger cities.
Now our scientists talk about global warming, which truth be told, is just a delayed impact of "too many people on the planet."
Yet again, we don't want to hear the message. So when we hear of rampant poverty in our ghettos, when we hear of millions of Americans not being able to afford health care, we look for a scapegoat. For liberals it is the "wealthy."
This is not to say that we don't need more redistribution. It's just that by itself, redistribution doesn't work.
Like the theologians of old, we ask our intellectuals, our economists, political scientists and sociologists to "explain away" the problems we have with too many people.
And they have been amazingly effective in preventing us from seeing the true nature of the problem.
Economics, political science and sociology have been captured by "wishful thinking."
In fact our universities now have departments of "black studies" and "feminist studies" which engage in advocacy rather than the "dispassionate search for truth."
We have lost the integrity of our institutions.
4
The "us" versus "them" rhetoric in this post disturbs. Clearly, the writer sees himself as an enlightened republican, who has stood by while us liberal intellectuals destroy the world, with our advocacy and "black studies" departments.
I have news for you, Blaise: intellectualism without advocacy is a fallacy. That we care, that we advocate, is the single truth of academic life. We have indeed lost the integrity of our institutions, but not for that reason.
(Also, ease up on the "ghost quotes." They're tedious and make you sound like a child).
I have news for you, Blaise: intellectualism without advocacy is a fallacy. That we care, that we advocate, is the single truth of academic life. We have indeed lost the integrity of our institutions, but not for that reason.
(Also, ease up on the "ghost quotes." They're tedious and make you sound like a child).
4
@ Blaise - um, so it is too many poor people, who just happen to be people o color? We have all heard that dog whistle before.
2
Please, please stop reporting on the phenomenon of Trump's "popularity" that you feed by reporting on it. Could you please report on his "platform" and "policy proposals" instead?
11
For a moment there, groping for my reading glasses, I thought we had a story, "Donald Trump's Unstoppable Virility". Of course all we have to do is ask him if we want that story.
5
"news stories were more likely to be shared if they elicited emotions like awe, anger and anxiety."
The Fox News business model.
The Fox News business model.
1
TRUMP'S VIRILITY? The word virility means manliness. I believe that his infantile antics render him sterile. Sterile of political meaning. Free from logical thought. Perhaps even a victim of a syndrome prevalent among GOP hopefuls this year: Terminal Stupidity. As with the Old Year, which we will be bidding farewell with wishes to RIP, rest in peace, I extend the same wishes to the GOP hopeless, hapless, feckless, foolhardy, effed up presidential aspirants. My wishes include words from Roy Rogers, Happy Trails to You and from Dr. Strangelove, We'll Meet Again, Don't Know Where, Don't Know When. I sure hope to see the last of them. But I doubt they will disappear in 2016. So much the pity for us.
3
It keeps coming back in my head.I am a leftist who strongly believes in Bernie,and still I hear the words:"NO MUSLIMS".And for some reason,this makes sense to me.Hey,after seeing that poor woman in Afghanistan lynched by the general public,I start thinking that he has a point...
10
I don't know what is worse: people who support Trump in polls because they actually believe he would be a good president, or people who support Trump in polls because they think it's a big joke.
7
wake up. you have no border control 19trillion in debt and you think this is about soundbites. how about a wall. lots of reasons people want an outsider.
1
America's fascination with the sound bite is that it's portable. These unambigious statements of less than 10 words are extremely comforting; they eliminate the need to actually read, research or think. At the same time, they order a complex and scary universe and above all can be remembered and passed on to friends and foe alike. Trump of course is the most hollow suit and that will be unmistakably evident if the Democrats are lucky enough to face him as Presidential nominee rather than a hopeful. I suspect Hillary's attitude is the same; between now and then he doesn't constitute a presence at her parade while she has the luxury of being one at his.
Last, and just for the record; Donald wears those stupid hats because he has no choice, When outdoors, if even the slightest breeze were to blow...need I say more?
Last, and just for the record; Donald wears those stupid hats because he has no choice, When outdoors, if even the slightest breeze were to blow...need I say more?
4
sound bites are necessary in th usa bc yanks have th attention span of squirrels on crack
1
The old bad press is no press. This has been the entertainment's meme since at least 30 years. The more ink Trump gets, the higher he rises in GOP polls, and the more attention that party gets.
Meanwhile, the absurd policy of the DNC Chair to HIDE the Democrats, especially Hillary Clinton shows Chair Wasserman Schultz isn't paying attention and is hurting the Presidential and senatorial efforts of the party. For them, it's low exposure and endless eMails begging for money, the way it has been for a dozen years. Santayana said those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Einstein said repeating the same action and expecting a different result is the mark of insanity.
Thus , by not going out there and getting press, by scheduling debates on Saturday nights, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and the Democratic Party, including HRC, are ceding the field to the Republicans and Trump. This is what both Sanders and O'Malley have been warning about to deaf, insane ears.
Meanwhile, the absurd policy of the DNC Chair to HIDE the Democrats, especially Hillary Clinton shows Chair Wasserman Schultz isn't paying attention and is hurting the Presidential and senatorial efforts of the party. For them, it's low exposure and endless eMails begging for money, the way it has been for a dozen years. Santayana said those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Einstein said repeating the same action and expecting a different result is the mark of insanity.
Thus , by not going out there and getting press, by scheduling debates on Saturday nights, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and the Democratic Party, including HRC, are ceding the field to the Republicans and Trump. This is what both Sanders and O'Malley have been warning about to deaf, insane ears.
7
How many campaigns have you run and won/
Oh you have to have run a campaign before you can criticize the DNC?
I refuse to read any article that puts "Virality" in its headline.
12
This is the same attitude that led Republicans to reject anything Mr Obama said or did or proposed.
1
Not really; President Obama is literate.
1
Hopefully, he's the 9th life of Grumpy Cat. Who, thankfully, seems to have succumbed to a virus not treatable with antibiotics. Yeah.
Trump and his Oh Trauma Care approach will wither with inattention.
Trump and his Oh Trauma Care approach will wither with inattention.
4
What this article shows is that sadly, we've become an Entertainment Culture.
12
I saw a wonderful movie about exactly that!
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
1
I find Trump to be a most unattractive candidate in several ways. First. he is physically unattractive, with the flat head, the horrible yellow hair, and most of all, the mouth that contorts into a pig's snout when he really gets angry and begins to rant. Second is his manner of speaking. I don't know if this is natural or contrived, but I find it nasty and irritating. When he starts to characterize someone negatively, he puts out half-thoughts; he never finishes them. I tend to think his brain is overloaded and this makes him incoherent. If this is a deliberate ploy, it is done to keep us from knowing what he really thinks while encouraging the masses to fill in whatever they want--very deceitful.
I have yet to hear him say anything of substance about our nation or the world except to get rid of immigrants. I doubt he has any ideas that he wants to share with us. He is a megalomaniac and I will defy him and disparage him to the end of my life.
I have yet to hear him say anything of substance about our nation or the world except to get rid of immigrants. I doubt he has any ideas that he wants to share with us. He is a megalomaniac and I will defy him and disparage him to the end of my life.
11
Perhaps Americans have started to think in half thoughts...that would explain Trump's popularity.
1
There is nothing polarizing about Donald Trump. The media is angry and hateful towards him because he told them where to stick it, and they deserve it.
The "division" is between the American people and the establishment, which unfortunately now includes the media. It used to be that the media was a check and balance, but now they are just the propaganda wing of the left wing. It speaks volumes that Fox is the most popular news outlet as the lone conservative voice among the press. It shouldn't be required if news was just news, but with all the bias and slant the American people rebelled and supported Fox News.
Trump is serving the same purpose...a single voice against a fascist and group think media that refuses to deliver the news honestly. ANYONE in America who would support Hillary Clinton should be considered an enemy of our country. It's shocking that a person can commit treason and the media would run cover for her.
The "division" is between the American people and the establishment, which unfortunately now includes the media. It used to be that the media was a check and balance, but now they are just the propaganda wing of the left wing. It speaks volumes that Fox is the most popular news outlet as the lone conservative voice among the press. It shouldn't be required if news was just news, but with all the bias and slant the American people rebelled and supported Fox News.
Trump is serving the same purpose...a single voice against a fascist and group think media that refuses to deliver the news honestly. ANYONE in America who would support Hillary Clinton should be considered an enemy of our country. It's shocking that a person can commit treason and the media would run cover for her.
4
Tsk, tsk! I'm not the establishment, and I feel no divide worse than that between the HAVEs and their enablers and servants. Trump is a joke, a very bad one. Perhaps one service he performs is to hold the mirror up to those who stayed on the side-lines of politics and of life.
2
In my honest opinion, your comment bears out the thesis of this article.
2
Exactly what is the treasonous offense that Hillary has committed? And, while I'm asking, what are all the deceitful lies she's been telling? If there is any meat on those bones of propaganda, show us.
4
Trump is the logical stepchild of the GOP's recent lurch to the "If they can do it, why can't I?" Presidential candidates' mantra, begun by George Bush and continued by SarahPalin. This year the parade of vacuous White House aspirants grew so exponentially large that they needed to trade in the clown car for a circus train. Tell everyone not to believe the "left-wing media"; keep saying you're smart, even as you say the dumbest things ever heard in a presidential race; and - evidently - you're golden...at least for a while. But when you leave the cave - and eventually you have to - not everyone you meet smells exactly like you anymore and you stand out....easy pickings for the predators roaming the political landscape. Watching that ego-crushing phase should be a lot of fun
4
I wonder how many nyt readers who express extreme disdain and extreme dismay towards donald trump have ever build a successful business and created jobs for many people. the donald trump phenomena exists because deep down people who work for an honest day's pay know that the DONALD is behind them and has their interests at heart, in a win win situation for both.
can you say the same for hiliary and the rest of the politicians on both sides of the aisle who have sold the country down the drain?
can you say the same for hiliary and the rest of the politicians on both sides of the aisle who have sold the country down the drain?
4
Why doesn't the media lay out the fact that this charlatan is not even a successful business man. He survived through the good graces of many others. Trump inherited his father’s business - he was immediately worth of about $200M. If he had merely invested this wealth in an ordinary managed fund at around 5% he would be twice as rich as he is now. 1n 1980 he established The Trump Organization to oversee all of his real estate operations. Ten years later In 1990, due to excessive leveraging, The Trump Organization was $5 billion in debt with $1 billion personally guaranteed by Trump himself. A bailout pact agreed upon in August of that same year by some 70 banks, allowed Trump to defer on nearly $1 billion in debt, as well as to take out second and third mortgages on almost all of his properties. But for the combined and massive effort of all the banks and multiple parties in that 1990 deal, Trump’s business would have gone bankrupt and failed. Self-made? not really. Fascist Charlatan..Yes!!
133
Oh Boy! Do you have a big surprise in store! The longer you indulge in this "Donald loves me" fantasy, the harder you will fall when you wake up one morning and realize that Trump is the biggest corpocracy supporter on the planet. What do you think he means when he says, "I love winners"? He's not talking about struggling small business people, or firemen, or educators, or lawyers, or hardware store salesmen, or construction workers, or prisoners of war. He's not even talking about millionaires. He's talking about billionaires -- exactly the folks who are keeping a foot on the throats of the rest of us.
9
@ Charles - and how is Trump behind the people who work for an honest day's pay? What policies exactly will benefit them and how? His tax cuts for the uber-wealthy? His blatant bigotry? That will help how exactly?
Saying "I will be so good at the military, it will make your head spin." (what does that mean anyway?) is not a foreign policy; it is nonsense.
Saying "I will be so good at the military, it will make your head spin." (what does that mean anyway?) is not a foreign policy; it is nonsense.
8
That Trump could be the Republican front-runner tells us everything we need to know about Republicans. That he is favored by Republicans in Iowa and New Hampshire tells us all we need to know about the inhabitants of those states and why most of us don't live there.
4
Its hard to stop a man who is right and keeps coming! Trump is supported because of his policies
1. Stop ILLEGAL migrants. Build a wall. Totally owns it.
2. Save social sec. Medicare even healthcare for poor.
3. fix treatment of vets. totally owns it.
4. pause migration from Muslims until proper vetting. Why not?
5. Stop shipping every living wage job overseas. fair smart trade.
yeah its the policy but his media skills keep him controlling the message!
1. Stop ILLEGAL migrants. Build a wall. Totally owns it.
2. Save social sec. Medicare even healthcare for poor.
3. fix treatment of vets. totally owns it.
4. pause migration from Muslims until proper vetting. Why not?
5. Stop shipping every living wage job overseas. fair smart trade.
yeah its the policy but his media skills keep him controlling the message!
6
LetsBeAccurate? Accuracy, like charity, begins at home. Obama has been pushing these polies for years, but has been blocked by the GOP. He dared the GOP to pass laws on immigration. They refused. He took executive action--they took him to court. Amazing you don't know that... or maybe not so amazing... it's this ignorance that allows Trump to claim he brought these topics into the open. He lies.
4
Des Johnson,
In truth, Obama has NOT been pushing Trump's proposals, he has pushed his own, which, when compared to Trump's, would be completely opposite in effect. Trump is an obvious publicity hound, but his policies of the moment resonate with a lot of people's concerns. I find him tiresome and predictable, even frightening in his enthusiasm for the Kelo decision, but my friends, both Democratic and Republican, are enthused by his "telling it like it is."
Saying that Obama "...dared the GOP to pass laws on immigration" ignores the fact that the President would not sign any law that the Republicans authored. This bit of disingenuous prose on your part does not serve you well.
In truth, Obama has NOT been pushing Trump's proposals, he has pushed his own, which, when compared to Trump's, would be completely opposite in effect. Trump is an obvious publicity hound, but his policies of the moment resonate with a lot of people's concerns. I find him tiresome and predictable, even frightening in his enthusiasm for the Kelo decision, but my friends, both Democratic and Republican, are enthused by his "telling it like it is."
Saying that Obama "...dared the GOP to pass laws on immigration" ignores the fact that the President would not sign any law that the Republicans authored. This bit of disingenuous prose on your part does not serve you well.
They authored no law on immigration. They did work on dismantling Obamacare. "Telling it like it is" is a pathetic cop out by people who paid no attention to politics until the recession--thanks GOP--hit their pay-packets.
1
One of the most recommended commentors captured (half of) the narrative brilliantly...to wit:
"...Let's face it, Americans are not particularly bright...and a lot of them are just plain mean and rotten...
Someone from the other side, similarly enlightened, might voice...
"...Let's face it, Americans are not particularly bright...and a lot of them are just plain shiftless and lazy...
Since it appears that both sides increasingly agree on the declining IQ of the average American voter (remember Jonathan Gruber?) - all hinges on whether more just plain mean and rotten people turn out to vote, than do just plain shiftless and lazy people...
Watching us triangulate on our return to global exceptionalism is positively captivating.
America - what a country.
"...Let's face it, Americans are not particularly bright...and a lot of them are just plain mean and rotten...
Someone from the other side, similarly enlightened, might voice...
"...Let's face it, Americans are not particularly bright...and a lot of them are just plain shiftless and lazy...
Since it appears that both sides increasingly agree on the declining IQ of the average American voter (remember Jonathan Gruber?) - all hinges on whether more just plain mean and rotten people turn out to vote, than do just plain shiftless and lazy people...
Watching us triangulate on our return to global exceptionalism is positively captivating.
America - what a country.
6
To top off the stupidity, we keeps the score on unauditible electronic voting machines .
Trump is "Virulent". Viral, contagious and sickening. Just like all hate speakers. And he inherited his money, his companies going bankrupt many times. so much for his business expertise.
4
You know what's odd? How a man who went stone-cold broke while in the casino business always vilifies people he dislikes as "losers"... Are not losers his industry's bread and butter? And who is a bigger loser than a casino owner who can't make money when people literally come through the door to shove their cash at him?
This man is a Freudian's dream come true.
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
This man is a Freudian's dream come true.
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
7
Thanks, but no thanks. Speaking for myself and I am pretty sure for much of the Times readership, I am tired of hearing about Mr. Trump. Please spare me.
9
DJT may not be the entire Republican party, but he certainly is its id, and he exists in a largely id driven party. As many have said, one reason there is no meaningful opposition from other Republican candidates and from party leaders is that so many of these Republicans believe much of what he believes but are too well socialized to say so in public.
1
As a psychologist, it is clear that Donald Trump does tap into our unconscious, or as Jung called it into the "collective shadow," where all our fears reside. He clearly allows us as therapists would say to "evacuate" our anxiety and fears by projecting them onto others---Mexican immigrants or Syrian refugees today, Jews in the 1930s. Mr. Trump has cleverly exploited this "viral" collective hatred. It's a virus more akin to Ebola that needs to be quarantined with the truth about our fears such as that income inequality of the type Mr. Trump represents is sucking the economic life-blood of hope and opportunity for most of us.
4
"As a psychologist, it is clear that Donald Trump does tap into our unconscious..."
I had no idea Trump is a psychologist.
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
I had no idea Trump is a psychologist.
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
3
Stupid Americans often see all their own most shameful aspects embodied in everyone else around them
Yes, Rev, though this is the board for the non-stupid, self-described, Paul above among them, they start off proving their brilliance by not being able to put together an English sentence that says what they mean to say.
At least when Trump says "build a wall", he means build a wall (as impractical as that may in the end be). I guess not nuanced enough.
At least when Trump says "build a wall", he means build a wall (as impractical as that may in the end be). I guess not nuanced enough.
1
First of all Emma Roller you have sad 5k twittering follers vs Trumps 5m so can see your not exactly winning viewers maybe this article will help. whats worse you misrepresented again comment maid about illegal aliens crossing a intl border as being about Mexicas when it was as you know about ILLEGAL migrants coming through but not necessarily from Mexico. Secondly you misrepresented Trumps handling of reporters Muslim database question as his idea when at most he failed to rule it out. Very disgusting journalism. you and your editors should be ashamed!
1
The word "disgusting" is becoming part of the Trump persona. Everything disgusts the man.
Got it! Twitter is the measure of greatness. Oh sweet Jesus, save us!
3
Twitter is for twits.
Prediction: Continued warfare/ scrambling for the natural resources left. and/or as a distraction for all of our other problems. Orwell was right "War is not meant to be won. It is meant to be continuous"
Hillary voted for that sucker, Bernie didn't, All the Republicans support it/ expand it. There's your virus. War. Nasty, brutish and short.
Hillary voted for that sucker, Bernie didn't, All the Republicans support it/ expand it. There's your virus. War. Nasty, brutish and short.
3
OK Democrats, you dump Hillary from your ticket and the Republicans dump Trump from theirs. Each party offer up a single moderate candidate and we have an election and maybe somewhere in the process we remember how to speak to one another as if we were all human beings.
1
Interesting idea, but Hillary is our moderate candidate.
1
Every once in a while, like once a day, the Dem Lib establishment using their standard mouthpieces (like the NYT, nominally a news organization) trots out the same old story in a slightly different garb: psychological analysis of conservatives and Republicans.
They spew out nonsense that there is such a thing as a Republican (or conservative) brain, that conservatives' brains are different, that some of them cling to religion and guns in the face of anxiety, etc.
In other words that conservatives are irrational emotionally stunted sub-humans given to dark impulses that are ordinarily submerged in more "nuanced" well-adjusted individuals (read liberal Democrats).
It's the pot calling the kettle black.
Can phrenology be far behind?
They spew out nonsense that there is such a thing as a Republican (or conservative) brain, that conservatives' brains are different, that some of them cling to religion and guns in the face of anxiety, etc.
In other words that conservatives are irrational emotionally stunted sub-humans given to dark impulses that are ordinarily submerged in more "nuanced" well-adjusted individuals (read liberal Democrats).
It's the pot calling the kettle black.
Can phrenology be far behind?
3
Transference-projecting what you are does not exonerate you of it.
1
Steve Bolger,
Yes, and witty ripostes do not change the underlying, and obvious, truth in Mr. Xaxier's comment. The presumptuous notion that there is a "conservative" or "liberal" psychological condition is one of those nice canards that permits either group to assure themselves of their intellectual superiority over the other. It is, I suspect, rooted in insecurity and such assertions merely betray their author's weaknesses.
Yes, and witty ripostes do not change the underlying, and obvious, truth in Mr. Xaxier's comment. The presumptuous notion that there is a "conservative" or "liberal" psychological condition is one of those nice canards that permits either group to assure themselves of their intellectual superiority over the other. It is, I suspect, rooted in insecurity and such assertions merely betray their author's weaknesses.
Supporters of Mr. Trump are a minority within a minority. Let's Dump Trump in the general election.
3
I can't believe more people aren't put of by this guy's manicure and lotion approach to life. Salmon-palmed and coiffed, suited up like a fop--has he ever done a real day's work in his life? And yet he talks tough. I thought Americans were put off by this sort of coddled puffery.
14
When I turn on the news or read the NYT or WSJ, who do they cover? Trump. He deftly directs the media. The maestro talks, and the media jumps. Then, editorialists react in horror.
7
"Share-happy age," eh? So this is the Times ruing the times, if you will. Painful, isn't it, NY Times, when your power and influence wanes due to no fault of your own but mere changes in the world?
Grow up, Times. The world is no longer a print-oriented place, and ancients like you are loading us down. If you think Trump is the inadvertent beneficiary of a modern technology, just think about the idiotic notion for 50 years for the rest of us that New York City was the greatest city in the world. That notion, false as it was, was ten times more idiotic than the wonder of Trump.
Grow up, Times. The world is no longer a print-oriented place, and ancients like you are loading us down. If you think Trump is the inadvertent beneficiary of a modern technology, just think about the idiotic notion for 50 years for the rest of us that New York City was the greatest city in the world. That notion, false as it was, was ten times more idiotic than the wonder of Trump.
1
Another man on happy-pills!
NYC has been the greatest city in the world for far more than 50 years!!
We often read that Trump is the fruit reaped from what the GOP has sown. While this is probably true, more importantly, Trump supporters are a group that the GOP has always counted on to fill their Christmas stockings with votes.
Why is that important? Because the GOP knows that keeping voters ignorant will always add to their voter roles. The less voters understand, the better the GOP's prospects of winning.
Why is that important? Because the GOP knows that keeping voters ignorant will always add to their voter roles. The less voters understand, the better the GOP's prospects of winning.
5
Time will tell, but it seems as if the nation has indeed slipped earthward on the dumb-down slope. This helps account for the disproportionate negativity on the right, notwithstanding America's unique-in-the-world economic improvement, low unemployment rate, declining debt and growing international stature. (Yes, Mr. Trump, America is already getting greater again in spite of you.)
The narrative of an America in decline when, in fact, the country is successfully digging itself out of the GWB septic tank is not solely attributable to Donald Trump. ListenIng to the entire GOP presidential cavalcade, you'd think the nation is headed straight back to -- well -- 2008 again.
www.endthemadnessnow.org
The narrative of an America in decline when, in fact, the country is successfully digging itself out of the GWB septic tank is not solely attributable to Donald Trump. ListenIng to the entire GOP presidential cavalcade, you'd think the nation is headed straight back to -- well -- 2008 again.
www.endthemadnessnow.org
3
What it takes to run for president is not the same as what it takes to be president. Many highly qualified candidates don't run because of the circus that is now the road to nomination. Substance no longer matters, nor do well thought out, nuanced ideas. Ego driven candidates,funded by billionaires, pose, rant, posture and lie for name recognition and voters mistake this for substance. It's bad entertainment, and there is no true statesmanship. It may be indeed the dumbing down of the American people, as reinforced by the media which goes for the easiest and lowest common denominator.
Our people, children and heritage deserve better.
Our people, children and heritage deserve better.
151
'Scuse me... We have true statesmanship in the White House. Which has driven White America and the GOP daft. If Obama is intelligent, let's get someone stupid... Trump!
" Mr. Trump has no qualms about looking or sounding " unpresidential". Who defines what is " unpresidential"? Perhaps a lot of people are tired of a president who is indeed presidential in appearance, but who accomplishes little and supports values they are opposed to. I am not a fan of Trump but I understand his appeal.
5
Yes, he's the flu, HIV, and ebola made human.
1
Over the past decade it was difficult to see how the voting public could have become dumber but with Trump's popularity voters have reached a new level of stupid.
3
"" Maybe that same social media will contribute to reconvert Mr. Trump truths back to the lies they are."
what if they are not lies? then the liberal readers of the NYT will suffer from an extreme case of cognitive dissonance.
what if they are not lies? then the liberal readers of the NYT will suffer from an extreme case of cognitive dissonance.
3
It has already been proven that nothing worse could occupy the White House. Should Trump be elected we can only improve. Readers here should brace themselves for improvement and let the liberal without a penchant for watching a virus like IS while sitting on hands in the White House throw all the stones he has. There are enough epidemics among them already for, not against, which they have shown extraordinary acceptance so let them complain about Trump too much. There could be no weaker metaphor used by the NYT.
1
If I inadvertently spread a lie, I feel I have a responsibility to address the error. Does that make me a liberal?
I neither support illegal immigration nor agree that immigration is always beneficial. But I feel that a practical solution to those who are within cannot be just a wall and mass deportation. Does that make me a liberal?
I think that Obama analysis of ISIS is correct and I think there is a for profit industry of fear in the US. Does that makes me a liberal? I also understand what ISIS is.
I am for universal health care but I think the ACA promotes merger resulting in mega health care systems and have the potential to lead to Medicaid for all. Does that makes me a liberal?
I understand we need to have jail but I do not understand the sadistic behavior of guards . I cannot support a correctional system that promotes poverty. Does that makes me a liberal?
I understand that wars are sometimes necessary and are costly. I do not understand why a conservative would support two wars financed with borrowed money. Does that make me a liberal?
I neither support illegal immigration nor agree that immigration is always beneficial. But I feel that a practical solution to those who are within cannot be just a wall and mass deportation. Does that make me a liberal?
I think that Obama analysis of ISIS is correct and I think there is a for profit industry of fear in the US. Does that makes me a liberal? I also understand what ISIS is.
I am for universal health care but I think the ACA promotes merger resulting in mega health care systems and have the potential to lead to Medicaid for all. Does that makes me a liberal?
I understand we need to have jail but I do not understand the sadistic behavior of guards . I cannot support a correctional system that promotes poverty. Does that makes me a liberal?
I understand that wars are sometimes necessary and are costly. I do not understand why a conservative would support two wars financed with borrowed money. Does that make me a liberal?
4
In contrast to today's definition of conservative, as represented by ALL the Republican candidates for President, yes you are a liberal. The Republican Party has moved so far to the right over the last eight years that moderates (which is what you really are) seem like liberals.
For what its worth, I dont care if you are a liberal or a conservative because you are a thinking American with clear ideas about the policies you would like our government to pursue. You are the kind of person/ voter that both parties should be listening too.
For what its worth, I dont care if you are a liberal or a conservative because you are a thinking American with clear ideas about the policies you would like our government to pursue. You are the kind of person/ voter that both parties should be listening too.
2
Virality circulate ideas; it cannot sell bad products. Its currency is controversy, not intrinsic worth.
Yes Trump is riding the wave of fear, hate, anxiety that effervesces among white uneducated rural males in ways that guns, meth, alcohol, beating up women and children, listening to Rush Limbaugh, scaring worshipers outside mosques, blowing up black churches, have not done.
They seek refuge in a hate monger who will make America great (white Christian) again, and in the process blow up, deport, imprison, exile all undesirables (including women who use the bathroom).
Trump's virality should spell "register and get everyone to vote" to Democrats. It should spell "get every factory out, send every job out" to the power elites that his rabble wants to pitchfork.
If anyone is taking bets . . . after New Hampshire, Trump will change his strategy; he will do a bit of mea culpa, and beg for votes. When that doesn't work, he will take off in his airplane, sulk in his mansion, and tell his acolytes: "I didn't want to be president in the first place, I actually won. I am the greatest. You don't deserve me. Now watch what happens."
His words will have meaning. Democracy, openness, the victory of reason over belief, science over dogma; equality and harmony among genders, races, and religions, are all antithetical and threatening notions to the American right wing and Trump's base. They will rue the absence of Trump.
Hello Jeb & Kasich ticket.
Kalidan
Yes Trump is riding the wave of fear, hate, anxiety that effervesces among white uneducated rural males in ways that guns, meth, alcohol, beating up women and children, listening to Rush Limbaugh, scaring worshipers outside mosques, blowing up black churches, have not done.
They seek refuge in a hate monger who will make America great (white Christian) again, and in the process blow up, deport, imprison, exile all undesirables (including women who use the bathroom).
Trump's virality should spell "register and get everyone to vote" to Democrats. It should spell "get every factory out, send every job out" to the power elites that his rabble wants to pitchfork.
If anyone is taking bets . . . after New Hampshire, Trump will change his strategy; he will do a bit of mea culpa, and beg for votes. When that doesn't work, he will take off in his airplane, sulk in his mansion, and tell his acolytes: "I didn't want to be president in the first place, I actually won. I am the greatest. You don't deserve me. Now watch what happens."
His words will have meaning. Democracy, openness, the victory of reason over belief, science over dogma; equality and harmony among genders, races, and religions, are all antithetical and threatening notions to the American right wing and Trump's base. They will rue the absence of Trump.
Hello Jeb & Kasich ticket.
Kalidan
1
The "virality" being described sounds predictable. This is the defeat of "system 2" by "system 1," i.e. reflexive and rapid impression triumphing over the trouble to slow down and consider issues more carefully. If anyone were to wonder about these sorts of ingrained triggers consider reading Daniel Kahneman's "Thinking, Fast and Slow." The more our rapid communications systems give us a chance to exclude system 2, perhaps the more we will do it. Is it a surprise that the "Mr. T phenomenon" has not occurred sooner? Given so many dog-whistles in our politics, his experience in reality TV appears better suited to existing processes than the halls of Congress. Now if only the West Wing's Jed Bartlett were running against him.
I refuse to believe, perhaps from complete naïveté, that the American electorate is ready to chose a filthy-mouthed, hateful bigot who is dangerously ignorant of world affairs, and a complete business fraud to be their next president. If I turn out to be wrong, then the people get what they deserve, and I shall relocate with my family and possessions to another country...any other country would be preferable.
6
Jefflz.........that's what I did 12 years ago when I thought America could not get any worse....but it did get worse.
For those who afraid of being seen as quitters....life is too short to wait for an unlikely improvement in America...the country has not yet hit bottom so a turn around could be generations away.
For those who afraid of being seen as quitters....life is too short to wait for an unlikely improvement in America...the country has not yet hit bottom so a turn around could be generations away.
1
The republican "leaders" planted the fertile seeds of bigotry and ignorance back when that mediocre actor was playing "President".
Now those seeds have blossomed into full flower. But the bloom is so ugly that it is usually covered with a ball cap sporting a silly and simplistic slogan.
Hopefully, the ugly flower will soon wilt and be relegated to the recycle bin where it will be mixed with manure and ultimately returned to the garden of our country in the form of something useful like mulch.
Now those seeds have blossomed into full flower. But the bloom is so ugly that it is usually covered with a ball cap sporting a silly and simplistic slogan.
Hopefully, the ugly flower will soon wilt and be relegated to the recycle bin where it will be mixed with manure and ultimately returned to the garden of our country in the form of something useful like mulch.
5
In the frenzy of their own self-herniating efforts to analyze the phenomenon of the disgusting blowhard Trump, have all my fellow Chicken Littles forgotten that the disgusting blowhard is merely campaigning for the NOMINATION of a somewhat racist party that has lost the last two presidential elections to a black candidate?
Getting carried away with intellectual analyses of the blowhard's appeal is as much an expression of fear (that he'll actually be elected) as Trump's own pandering to his supporters' fear of the "others" he demonizes. Does anyone with an IQ higher than 50 actually believe this nincompoop can negotiate the rocks and rapids of a US Congress that will fragment in his quest to "Make America Great Again" (as if America, on balance, isn't still great?).
There will be a Presidential election in November, 2016 and if opponents of this appalling bag of hate can't summon enough opposition at the polls to defeat him, America will get what it deserves. As is often said in various forms, "The system is stronger than those who attempt to profane it."
Getting carried away with intellectual analyses of the blowhard's appeal is as much an expression of fear (that he'll actually be elected) as Trump's own pandering to his supporters' fear of the "others" he demonizes. Does anyone with an IQ higher than 50 actually believe this nincompoop can negotiate the rocks and rapids of a US Congress that will fragment in his quest to "Make America Great Again" (as if America, on balance, isn't still great?).
There will be a Presidential election in November, 2016 and if opponents of this appalling bag of hate can't summon enough opposition at the polls to defeat him, America will get what it deserves. As is often said in various forms, "The system is stronger than those who attempt to profane it."
50
Nailed it. Thanks.
Presidential elections seem very much to be exercises in yin yang pendulum swings. Carter the atoner for Nixon's sins. Reagan a proud response to Carter's humbleness. W Bush - simple straightforward to Clinton's slickness. Obama's high-minded eloquence to W's ultra clumsy rhetoric. And now having president with little visceral presence of force and who visually strikes an uncomfortably resemblance to the proverbial 99 pound weakling - along comes a bloviator par-excellance filling the void Obama's presidency leaves wide open. So my take is that Trump does not so much represent "virality" - but rather a compensation for a lack of "virility" in a nation feeling its decline in this regard in an increasingly multi-polar world and with a president capable of soaring transcendent rhetoric but who dithers and tip-toes around confrontation. Trump's own virility I am sure has peaked, so his own life trajectory is well-suited to a country anxious to reclaim a sense of potency that is slipping away. However, appealing to primitive brain centers for feel good compensations is in the end a pseudo solution. Recognizing the realities for what that are is what is really needed. Now it is up to the people.
6
Where's the fear factor in this piece?
The viral craziness of the thing be damned as a topic! Trump is a
dangerous man probably even lacking in mental stability.
No matter how the duping process is effected; it's still a duping.
The viral craziness of the thing be damned as a topic! Trump is a
dangerous man probably even lacking in mental stability.
No matter how the duping process is effected; it's still a duping.
14
Incredibly, if Trump really wants to become President, he could succeed but not if he continues behaving as a buffoon. Even though many in the voting public are now politically uninformed and highly vulnerable to his right-wing propaganda, their behavior would improve dramatically as November, 2016 approaches. Trump recognizes this reality and will shift from clowning, during the primaries, to become a serious candidate, revealing his being basically a middle-of-the-road independent. (There are strong signs in his political past of his centrist orientation.) What I am most afraid of is that (1) initially, he will continue staying the course to gain the republican nomination; (2) if so, he would succeed getting it hands down; (3) then he would switch from attention-getting nonsense to cleaning-up his act as a mainstream, establishment republican; and (4) may well succeed in becoming elected President by a modest margin. This is, unfortunately, not an unlikely scenario given the gullibility and apathy of the voting public. Indeed, in his appearance on Meet the Press a few weeks ago, he answered Chuck Todd’s questions like a middle-of-the-road statesman, proving he can switch from buffoon to seriousness effortlessly and convincingly. Besides, following this scenario is also his best way for expanding the reach of the TRUMP BRAND and actually hitting the $12 billion mark he now falsely claims to have achieved.
13
It's impossible to see how his popularity can win him the Republican nomination without destroying the GOP. And if he is, by some evil miracle, elected, how do we keep his hand off the nuclear trigger if some foreign state displeases him?
8
Anyone who would claim Trump is the evil one in this election is a traitor to our country, just like Clinton who sold classified documents to our enemies.
Sorry he's not polite, but Trump is a true patriot. Clinton is a criminal.
Shame on you.
Sorry he's not polite, but Trump is a true patriot. Clinton is a criminal.
Shame on you.
1
An aide to Trump said a couple of weeks ago, "Why bother to have nuclear weapons if you don't use them?" I never thought I would ever hear anyone say that. But I grew up terrified and even as a little kid was aware enough to know that these drills we did in school - walking in an orderly line to go out into the hall and put our faces to the wall - were meaningless. To hear a spokesperson for someone who might possibly become president say such a thing is truly shocking to me.
4
Another "fantasy", dude.
Donald Trump reminds me a lot of ISIS. With all the bluster and claims of invincibility, he too will eventually fall out of the public eye to become a footnote of history.
3
In decadent societies, the language is decadent. Whichever came first, the downward spiral of confusion and decay is self-perpetuating–"the people" will reliably and solemnly vote against their own interests.
Trump's outrageousness is an affectation to capture eyeballs and votes. Clinton's outrageousness is a manifestation of her rapaciousness.
Voting is a comparative act. If, in the end, it comes down to voters choosing between Trump's outrageous & simplistic bluntness & Clinton's outrageous & deceptive lies, most will, I suspect, go with the former.
That said, Trump's affectation today is misplaced.
By attacking Bill for the Clinton abuse of women, Trump is missing the elephant in the room – Hillary, the self-proclaimed feminist in the race. He should be targeting the "War on Women" demagogue's history with women, which can be summed up thusly: Mrs. Clinton rode to notoriety on the backs of her predatory husband and the women they abused.
NBC, loyal friend of Bill (FOB), likely started an investigation of Bill's alleged assault of Broaddrick expecting to exonerate a president mired in impeachment. Instead, the investigation impeached a predator who routinely abused women & power.
Its relevance to Mrs. Clinton: There are two important videos online–the complete Dateline NBC investigation, & the interview of Broaddrick concerning the alleged threat by Mrs. Clinton two weeks later. I urge anyone planning to pull the lever for this feminist pretender to watch the videos.
Trump's outrageousness is an affectation to capture eyeballs and votes. Clinton's outrageousness is a manifestation of her rapaciousness.
Voting is a comparative act. If, in the end, it comes down to voters choosing between Trump's outrageous & simplistic bluntness & Clinton's outrageous & deceptive lies, most will, I suspect, go with the former.
That said, Trump's affectation today is misplaced.
By attacking Bill for the Clinton abuse of women, Trump is missing the elephant in the room – Hillary, the self-proclaimed feminist in the race. He should be targeting the "War on Women" demagogue's history with women, which can be summed up thusly: Mrs. Clinton rode to notoriety on the backs of her predatory husband and the women they abused.
NBC, loyal friend of Bill (FOB), likely started an investigation of Bill's alleged assault of Broaddrick expecting to exonerate a president mired in impeachment. Instead, the investigation impeached a predator who routinely abused women & power.
Its relevance to Mrs. Clinton: There are two important videos online–the complete Dateline NBC investigation, & the interview of Broaddrick concerning the alleged threat by Mrs. Clinton two weeks later. I urge anyone planning to pull the lever for this feminist pretender to watch the videos.
5
BOKO HARAM:
Mrs. Clinton's State Dept repeatedly refused to place Boko Haram, the group that abducted hundreds of innocent girls, on the list of foreign terrorists. This despite the urging of the Justice Dept, the FBI, the CIA & many senators & congressmen.
Hillary Clinton, addressing the UN, 3/4/1999:
"It's no longer acceptable to say that the abuse and mistreatment of women is cultural. It should be called what it is: criminal."
HILLARY'S VICTIMS
19th Amendment subversion
Women's vote coercion
Gender-card player Clinton
Trial-ballooned her latest slogan.
"An attack on one woman"
(Namely herself! Rivals beware)
"Is an attack on all women."
(All women must care!)
If its logic makes sense
If the slogan rings true
Then the Clintons' attacks on Juanita
Are attacks on me. And you. And you…
Mrs. Clinton's State Dept repeatedly refused to place Boko Haram, the group that abducted hundreds of innocent girls, on the list of foreign terrorists. This despite the urging of the Justice Dept, the FBI, the CIA & many senators & congressmen.
Hillary Clinton, addressing the UN, 3/4/1999:
"It's no longer acceptable to say that the abuse and mistreatment of women is cultural. It should be called what it is: criminal."
HILLARY'S VICTIMS
19th Amendment subversion
Women's vote coercion
Gender-card player Clinton
Trial-ballooned her latest slogan.
"An attack on one woman"
(Namely herself! Rivals beware)
"Is an attack on all women."
(All women must care!)
If its logic makes sense
If the slogan rings true
Then the Clintons' attacks on Juanita
Are attacks on me. And you. And you…
1
If you have more relevant factual information with supportive sourcing, isn't it your duty to so inform NYT readers?
I commend to Mr. Donald "this-country-is-a-hell-hole" Trump Ring Lardner's advice: "'Shut up,' he explained."
9
One of the biggest reasons Donald is so popular is because of his business sense.
After a failed president's complete lack of economics and no business experience the US needs a business man to bring the economy back to life.
After a failed president's complete lack of economics and no business experience the US needs a business man to bring the economy back to life.
5
I read somewhere that if he has invested the money his father left in a fixed income fund, he would have made more money. So even with government help (as he himself admitted) his business investments were inferior to a standard investment.
2
Huh? Do you mean GW Bush? The president-select who came to office with Clinton's surplus & vitiated it for Obama to right it.
Like W?
Interesting article. Little new, but usefully swept together like the sawdust on the floor of an old-time bucket-of-blood on a Sunday morning.
The pathologies of Western democracies can be described in various ways, and it's time we started doing that. The description of conservatives as having "less tolerance for ambiguity" is useful. It's a trait that persists from childhood. What we really need to work out, if at all possible, is how to have a democracy for children who are afraid of the dark. Meanwhile, we seem to be stuck with Trump, whose best argument is the childish "nyah, nyah, ni, nyahni."
The pathologies of Western democracies can be described in various ways, and it's time we started doing that. The description of conservatives as having "less tolerance for ambiguity" is useful. It's a trait that persists from childhood. What we really need to work out, if at all possible, is how to have a democracy for children who are afraid of the dark. Meanwhile, we seem to be stuck with Trump, whose best argument is the childish "nyah, nyah, ni, nyahni."
6
Trump, understanding human emotions as drivers of our actions, knows that critical thinking is irrelevant for the happy mob following his every uttered nonsense; so, full charge ahead, with his lies and innuendos, insults and outrageous statements. Whenever a 'poor soul' questions his motives, or ready to stop his bullying, his attacks become immediate and go viral. This egomaniac charlatan won't allow even constructive criticism of his rantings, reality and truth don't seem to stand a chance. You would think that in a sane society, he wouldn't stand a chance to become president; but if he does, in spite of all his baggage, then we are the fools, and would deservedly own him...and his adventurism. And no crying afterwards would save the day.
3
His virality may be unstoppable, yet what’s driving it is that ideological adversaries for quite some time have been evangelizing an America at odds with tradition, even at odds with the great mass of people in the middle. He’s now throwing it back in their faces, and that great mass is reacting to him as though he were the great savior they’d been awaiting for years.
Neither the very poor, who aren’t threatened by the changes assaulting our society because, not paying taxes, they’re merely passengers; or the comfortable, who have their varied forms of gated communities to protect themselves from reality; support him – they’re either indifferent to or fearful of him. It’s the mass in the middle, exposed and largely defenseless to claims that we’re not exceptional, that we have a blood-guilt to atone for, that we have an obligation to water culture and support millions who come here not speaking our language or embracing our values – THIS is what has made his virality unstoppable. Because a ton of America disagrees and only lacked a voice to get cantankerous about it. Trump now provides that demagogic voice.
It’s not social media that’s at the heart of his popularity: he’s become the voice of an America that’s mad as hell, and not going to take it anymore. If you’re a liberal, don’t fear Trump so much as the America that makes him inevitable. If it assumes power through him, liberal totems stacked one on top of another for generations will we destroyed.
Neither the very poor, who aren’t threatened by the changes assaulting our society because, not paying taxes, they’re merely passengers; or the comfortable, who have their varied forms of gated communities to protect themselves from reality; support him – they’re either indifferent to or fearful of him. It’s the mass in the middle, exposed and largely defenseless to claims that we’re not exceptional, that we have a blood-guilt to atone for, that we have an obligation to water culture and support millions who come here not speaking our language or embracing our values – THIS is what has made his virality unstoppable. Because a ton of America disagrees and only lacked a voice to get cantankerous about it. Trump now provides that demagogic voice.
It’s not social media that’s at the heart of his popularity: he’s become the voice of an America that’s mad as hell, and not going to take it anymore. If you’re a liberal, don’t fear Trump so much as the America that makes him inevitable. If it assumes power through him, liberal totems stacked one on top of another for generations will we destroyed.
7
The poor DO pay taxes in most cases, even the very poor, even if it is not through the federal income tax. http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2015/1...
2
"The Greatest Story Ever Told", should be the title of this chapter in our Nation's convoluted political history. Despite it being the title of a Christmas movie that falls like lead through the floor.
Same thing might happen to Trump's movie.
Same thing might happen to Trump's movie.
1
The difference between the film is that it suffers from an overarching sense of reverence whilst Trumpolini causes this viewing public to suffer the lack of it.
1
The similarity being both try an audience's patience beyond exasperation; most of it, anyway.
I have faith in the majority of the people and it will reflect in 2016! A lot of the obstructionists will be gone. It will be a good start!!
2
Yes, a good start towards impeachment & removal from office if Trumpolini is elected president!
Nobody gets elected by "leading in most national polls."
Could some kind space traveler finally manage to deliver a hologram message in a robot to the New York Times?
Please enroll at least one reporter in a high school civics class, or at least circulate a copy of the United States Constitution.
Could some kind space traveler finally manage to deliver a hologram message in a robot to the New York Times?
Please enroll at least one reporter in a high school civics class, or at least circulate a copy of the United States Constitution.
4
The trouble with this analysis of Trump's virality is its failure to note a major factor in his rise and expected fall: It's called SHEER BOREDOM. The same audience he excited six months ago may soon look for another boredom killer.
1
Trump is America -- second rate.
5
Trump is like summer school ... no class.
"Conservatives tend to be a lot more reactive to negative information and they also tend to be a lot more insular in nature, and they also tend to have less tolerance for ambiguity,” Professor Okdie said". These so-called "conservatives" are in fact "reactionaries."
5
Donald Trump has become the Republican Party because millions of people regularly click on "send" to spread his gospel of hate and fear with the same ambivalence with which they send a "smiley face" to a friend.
It is a telling - and chilling - indictment of our society that when you ask people who they want to be the next president, so many say "Donald Trump," but when you ask them what they really know about his plans and policy proposals for America, you usually get a blank stare - if, that is, they look up from their I Phone to answer you.
I guess we shouldn't be surprised by this. After all, this is a country where more people keep up with the Kardashians, than keep up with the daily news; a country where people still use the words "Fox" and "news" in the same sentence and keep a straight face while doing so.
A country where too many people listen to Rush Limbaugh, cheer Ann Coulter, and believe Breitbart.
As a result, we have been conditioned to fear and, yes, hate, anyone or anything different than ourselves; anything that invades our comfort zone is accused, insulted, and attacked or ignored.
To be fair, however, Donald Trump is not the cause of this national calamity. No, his domination of the polls simply is the effect of a country indoctrinated by a Right Wing sound machine that lies with impunity, and a national media that privately disdains Trump, but loves the ratings he generates.
America: Land of really "smart" phones and really "dumb" people.
It is a telling - and chilling - indictment of our society that when you ask people who they want to be the next president, so many say "Donald Trump," but when you ask them what they really know about his plans and policy proposals for America, you usually get a blank stare - if, that is, they look up from their I Phone to answer you.
I guess we shouldn't be surprised by this. After all, this is a country where more people keep up with the Kardashians, than keep up with the daily news; a country where people still use the words "Fox" and "news" in the same sentence and keep a straight face while doing so.
A country where too many people listen to Rush Limbaugh, cheer Ann Coulter, and believe Breitbart.
As a result, we have been conditioned to fear and, yes, hate, anyone or anything different than ourselves; anything that invades our comfort zone is accused, insulted, and attacked or ignored.
To be fair, however, Donald Trump is not the cause of this national calamity. No, his domination of the polls simply is the effect of a country indoctrinated by a Right Wing sound machine that lies with impunity, and a national media that privately disdains Trump, but loves the ratings he generates.
America: Land of really "smart" phones and really "dumb" people.
338
You are right frank, everybody else is stupid.
I'm thinking the more you read of Trump's and other nitwits tweets and comments on social media, it begs the question are these gadgets really "Smart Phones"?
I think you have it right....in that it's really about "Dumb" people....maybe we should rename them "Dumb Phones".
I think you have it right....in that it's really about "Dumb" people....maybe we should rename them "Dumb Phones".
2
Your inveighing against Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Brietbart and the Right Wing followed by your observation that we accuse, insult and attack anything that invades our comfort zone is odd.
1
You quote Trump at the end: “The point is that if you are a little different, or a little outrageous, or if you do things that are bold or controversial, the press is going to write about you,..."
Then you go on to write about him, proving his point. Sad, indeed.
Hopefully, Trump would lose Iowa, even if that means Cruz wins there, and Trump's latest tirade, this time against The Union Leader (http://tinyurl.com/gw6xhcz), New Hampshire's largest newspaper, for endorsing Chris Christie, would cost him that state's primary.
Losing a couple of primaries may yet stop Trump's supposed "unstoppable virality."
Then you go on to write about him, proving his point. Sad, indeed.
Hopefully, Trump would lose Iowa, even if that means Cruz wins there, and Trump's latest tirade, this time against The Union Leader (http://tinyurl.com/gw6xhcz), New Hampshire's largest newspaper, for endorsing Chris Christie, would cost him that state's primary.
Losing a couple of primaries may yet stop Trump's supposed "unstoppable virality."
3
You make it seem as if he is an affable Archie Bunker bigot when in reality he is a dangerous demagogue who threatens peace at home and abroad.
36
Mr Trump is not the kind of friend you would want to have. He played golf with Mr Clinton, he donated to his Foundation, even invited the couple to his latest wedding, and now he wants to drag Mr Clinton's historical infidelity back through the mud. Why would you want a friend like that who is disloyal and puts publicity and virality before friendship?
8
Donald Trump and Bill Clinton are not "friends", Bill and Hillary Clinton identify with him as "users"...what ever it takes to "win" even if not candidate material - it's Donald Trump's money that is doing all the talking!
1
JoanZee, agree totally.
1
So, Trump is the perfect candidate for the "viral" age? Like a cat video on YouTube?
What goes viral is what we think is "remarkable"? What could possibly be remarkable about a vulgar, wealthy narcissist mouthing bigotry, racism, xenophobia, all standard political/social positions given voice throughout our history? There's nothing new in Trump's lexicon.
What's remarkable is that this newspaper would print this piece as if it's newsworthy. What's remarkable is that cable news will post twitter after twitter by Trump, and discuss them as if they are newsworthy.
What is remarkable, and should go viral, is that almost no media cover any of the other GOP candidates in any depth at all, which is supposed to be their job. Ted Cruz is terrifying. So is Rubio. In fact, the only person discussing the fact that all the GOP candidates are extreme right wing terrors, is Paul Krugman in his column yesterday. Thank you, Paul.
Finally, if one wants to discuss the "anger" Trump is supposedly tapping into, where's a piece about why these people are angry? Who is responsible for their anger? President Obama? No.
Republicans. A GOP controlled Congress that did nothing but obstruct legislation that would have helped these angry people. That gives tax breaks to the rich, and rejects raising the minimum wage.
Bernie Sanders got it right, when he called for Trump supporters to join him, because his policies will help them, not Trump's.
Someone please twitter this. I don't have an account.
What goes viral is what we think is "remarkable"? What could possibly be remarkable about a vulgar, wealthy narcissist mouthing bigotry, racism, xenophobia, all standard political/social positions given voice throughout our history? There's nothing new in Trump's lexicon.
What's remarkable is that this newspaper would print this piece as if it's newsworthy. What's remarkable is that cable news will post twitter after twitter by Trump, and discuss them as if they are newsworthy.
What is remarkable, and should go viral, is that almost no media cover any of the other GOP candidates in any depth at all, which is supposed to be their job. Ted Cruz is terrifying. So is Rubio. In fact, the only person discussing the fact that all the GOP candidates are extreme right wing terrors, is Paul Krugman in his column yesterday. Thank you, Paul.
Finally, if one wants to discuss the "anger" Trump is supposedly tapping into, where's a piece about why these people are angry? Who is responsible for their anger? President Obama? No.
Republicans. A GOP controlled Congress that did nothing but obstruct legislation that would have helped these angry people. That gives tax breaks to the rich, and rejects raising the minimum wage.
Bernie Sanders got it right, when he called for Trump supporters to join him, because his policies will help them, not Trump's.
Someone please twitter this. I don't have an account.
25
So in the new world os social networking politics -- coupled with the complete loss of critical thinking -- all it takes is a campaign season to build the foundation for fascist society.
Poor Hitler. He had to spend a decade laying the ground work for his Nazi regime in Germany.
Poor Hitler. He had to spend a decade laying the ground work for his Nazi regime in Germany.
6
Donal Trump is a Demagogue. The media loves Demagogues because they make news and sell papers with every utterance. We have seen them before in our history, Huey Long, Father Coughlin and Joseph McCarthy. Donald Trump combines them all. He preaches populism, of which he is not an adherent. He preaches hate and intolerance. He also uses schoolyard bullying tactics on his opponents " I know you are but what am I?" He is far from the self made man, yet he bedazzles those disgruntled economically by implying that they too can can get rich. He has his own checkered past, but he conveniently point fingers at everyone in the room for their own missteps. Here in New York people tolerated "The Donald" as a persona of New York brash and bravado. He is a Social Darwinist through and through. The fact that he appeals to those very people he disdains is a credit to his methodology. As PT Barnum once said "There's a sucker born every minute"
6
An obscure song from the astute Don McClean:
Everybody Loves Me Baby
Fortune has me well in hand, armies wait at my command
My gold lies in a foreign land buried deep beneath the sand
The angels guide my ev'ry tread, my enemies are sick or dead
But all the victories I've led haven't brought you to my bed
You see, everybody loves me, baby, what's the matter with you?
Won't ya tell me what did I do to offend you?
Now the purest race I've bred for thee to live in my democracy
And the highest human pedigree awaits the first-born boy baby
And my face on ev'ry coin engraved, the anarchists are all enslaved
My own flag is forever waved by the grateful people I have saved
Now, no land is beyond my claim when the land is seized in the people's name
By evil men who rob and maim, if war is hell, I'm not to blame!
Why, you can't blame me, I'm Heaven's child, I'm the second son of Mary mild
And I'm twice removed from Oscar Wilde, but he didn't mind, why, he just smiled
Yes, and the ocean parts when I walk through, and the clouds dissolve and the sky turns blue
I'm held in very great value by everyone I meet but you
'cause I've used my talents as I could, I've done some bad, I've done some good
I did a whole lot better than they thought I would so, c'mon and treat me like you should!
Describes Trump to a T. Unfettered walking ego!!
Everybody Loves Me Baby
Fortune has me well in hand, armies wait at my command
My gold lies in a foreign land buried deep beneath the sand
The angels guide my ev'ry tread, my enemies are sick or dead
But all the victories I've led haven't brought you to my bed
You see, everybody loves me, baby, what's the matter with you?
Won't ya tell me what did I do to offend you?
Now the purest race I've bred for thee to live in my democracy
And the highest human pedigree awaits the first-born boy baby
And my face on ev'ry coin engraved, the anarchists are all enslaved
My own flag is forever waved by the grateful people I have saved
Now, no land is beyond my claim when the land is seized in the people's name
By evil men who rob and maim, if war is hell, I'm not to blame!
Why, you can't blame me, I'm Heaven's child, I'm the second son of Mary mild
And I'm twice removed from Oscar Wilde, but he didn't mind, why, he just smiled
Yes, and the ocean parts when I walk through, and the clouds dissolve and the sky turns blue
I'm held in very great value by everyone I meet but you
'cause I've used my talents as I could, I've done some bad, I've done some good
I did a whole lot better than they thought I would so, c'mon and treat me like you should!
Describes Trump to a T. Unfettered walking ego!!
3
My explanation of the Trump popularity is that a sizable swatch of the population is very unsophisticated and ignorant.The bad news is that they seem to predominate in one of the two national parties.The good news is that they are a minority in the general population.
3
No its the failedpolicies man! We want borders a wall. Illegals and unvetted Muslim migrants out and jibs back in.
Stop reporting his every move that will end his ignorant rants.
3
Trump is not a prefrontal lobe candidate, the area of the brain responsible for higher reasoning, executive function and impulse control - characteristics once thought valuable to the role of Chief Executive. He operates more from the brain stem, the reptilian part, the most primitive region where reaction is the norm and reflection is non-existent. It explains why we like scary movies. Trump is a master snake handler, only this time he's snaking lots of minds.
4
The left leaning media makes this more complicated than it is. He does well because a lot of people agree with. Like it or not - that is what happens in democracy. I doubt he will win - (and personally find him clownish) - but there is no denying he has millions of followers in this country. Most will never agree with the editorial columns of the NY Times. It's just reality.
3
"Mutant Daisies Near Fukushima Nuke Disaster Site Go Viral"
"Trump goes Viral"
We see many disasters go viral. It can be an excellent way to let the world know about catastrophes ahead of the main stream media.
Furthermore, there are Muslims who support the virulent hatred of ISIS spread through the Internet, and Americans who support Trump 's personal brand of hatred also spread via the Internet. Both groups are equally impossible to comprehend.
"Trump goes Viral"
We see many disasters go viral. It can be an excellent way to let the world know about catastrophes ahead of the main stream media.
Furthermore, there are Muslims who support the virulent hatred of ISIS spread through the Internet, and Americans who support Trump 's personal brand of hatred also spread via the Internet. Both groups are equally impossible to comprehend.
Rosanna Guadagno, a social psychologist, spreads a falsehood and has difficulty undoing it because she does not like being wrong. That alone would need psychoanalysis. One would think it would be matter of professional integrity to promptly address the error.
Yes it is true that republicans have a different personality. No grey. Perhaps a personality disorder.
Yes it is true that republicans have a different personality. No grey. Perhaps a personality disorder.
Donald Trump shows just how exceptional America really is - a real success story. Trump is living the American dream.
Or is it a nightmare?
Or is it a nightmare?
3
Trump is a product of the profound lack of leadership in American conservatism, he is a result of the Republican mantra that no government is good government. Well, as the Times has pointed out elsewhere, the chickens have come to roost and the Republicans are getting their wish in the form of Donald Trump.
Trump has "gone viral" because, unlike his Republican bedfellows, he is openly addressing, however primitively, precisely those critical issues that require intelligent government. The businessman Trump has learned thoughtful intelligence is often less valued than brute force in today's world, and he is simply applying his lessons from business to politics.
This is why Trump doesn't like Obama (or Clinton), because they are far too intelligent for his tastes, they contradict his "let's just carpet bomb them" approach to politics. If he wins the Republican ticket the choices the American electorate will face could not be more clearly defined. The wonders of democracy!
Trump has "gone viral" because, unlike his Republican bedfellows, he is openly addressing, however primitively, precisely those critical issues that require intelligent government. The businessman Trump has learned thoughtful intelligence is often less valued than brute force in today's world, and he is simply applying his lessons from business to politics.
This is why Trump doesn't like Obama (or Clinton), because they are far too intelligent for his tastes, they contradict his "let's just carpet bomb them" approach to politics. If he wins the Republican ticket the choices the American electorate will face could not be more clearly defined. The wonders of democracy!
4
Something we know about Republicans: “Conservatives tend to be a lot more reactive to negative information and they also tend to be a lot more insular in nature, and they also tend to have less tolerance for ambiguity.” Does this not describe W? The man who invaded Iraq in response to 9/11; the man who knows nothing of the outside world such as, there is a difference between a Sunni and a Shiite; the 'decider' who acts on his gut, shoots first and lands on an aircraft carrier dressed in a flight suit to gloat later.
So, knowing the nature of Republicans, do we want a Trump, Rubio, Cruz, Bush or any other Republican occupying the White House? I know I don't. Nor do I want Republicans controlling congress.
Republicans are people who think they know it all and are convinced they are right. They have no interest in understanding others, especially people or cultures outside the U.S. Republicans know no nuance, no grays; they see everything in stark contrasts of blacks and whites.
Republicans are simply not capable of governing. (And let me add a la Mr. Trump, I'm sure there are some good Republicans:)
So, knowing the nature of Republicans, do we want a Trump, Rubio, Cruz, Bush or any other Republican occupying the White House? I know I don't. Nor do I want Republicans controlling congress.
Republicans are people who think they know it all and are convinced they are right. They have no interest in understanding others, especially people or cultures outside the U.S. Republicans know no nuance, no grays; they see everything in stark contrasts of blacks and whites.
Republicans are simply not capable of governing. (And let me add a la Mr. Trump, I'm sure there are some good Republicans:)
4
The Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI), a respectable think tank based in Philadelphia, has as its motto "A Nation Must Think Before It Acts". This September, it saw fit to publish an article by their Senior Fellow Jan Ting, entitled, "Trump's Immigration Plan Sensible, Realistic". Trump got press; FPRI got press; Jan Ting got press: what could possibly be the problem with that? I have been told that my subsequent resignation from FPRI was unprecedented, and would I please come back so their record is unsullied. I'm still thinking before I act in regards to this matter.
1
Trump is just the loudest manifestation of the GOP, whose supporters believe the lies because they've been told them incessantly on FOX and talk radio for years with little or no pushback from the msm, which insisted on making everything a false equivalency. Although the msm is finally and tepidly acknowledging the "untruths" (lies) the GOP has been spouting,it's too late. You can't fix stupid, something Trump knows all too well.
4
I get it conservatives are more negative than liberals.The author quotes academics that are for the most part liberal. There is no bias in this article. What is presidential anyway. Nixon was a pathological liar. Carter was in over his head. Reagan was not quite there in his last term. Clinton was a womanizer.So was Kennedy and Roosevelt for that matter.Actually when you think about it the womanizers did a pretty good job. Just because the press says Trump is a racist doesn't mean it is true.
3
What does it say when the comments to a column in the NYT make more sense and are more influential than the opinion piece they are written about?
I have been comparing Mussolini movie clips with Trump ones. Same facial expressions, same braggadocio, same body language, same simplistic "solutions" to real or imaginary problems. Same under-educated crowds enjoying the escape from reality he offers.
What helps trump, like the Italian clown-dictator, is the lamentable weakness of the other Republican candidates. They make him look good.
I am worried, more than that, terrified, that this clown will do to our country what Mussolini did to his.
Hank SemperFi
What helps trump, like the Italian clown-dictator, is the lamentable weakness of the other Republican candidates. They make him look good.
I am worried, more than that, terrified, that this clown will do to our country what Mussolini did to his.
Hank SemperFi
2
I have no objection to Trump's piggishness, as I believe it is already in the process of confining him to the dumpster. His reliance on creating bumps in the twitterverse suggests that the Citizens United world of the future will see billionaires buying up news media so that they can mimic Trumps's strategy by megaphoning their candidate's appeals for attention.
I just wish Clinton and the conscientious press would resist the urge to keep observing how outrageous his dumpster-diving actually is. For many people, doing so only validates Trump's claim that the source of all the USA's woes is pressure to be politically correct, and encourages more of the same.
I just wish Clinton and the conscientious press would resist the urge to keep observing how outrageous his dumpster-diving actually is. For many people, doing so only validates Trump's claim that the source of all the USA's woes is pressure to be politically correct, and encourages more of the same.
59
I wish the media would spend more time talking about Bernie Sanders' policies and ideas than about Trumps excesses and circus escapades. But, most of the media outlets are giant corporations that would rather have a demagogue than an revolutionary democrat.
2
Yes, well said...." the twitterverse suggests that the Citizens United world of the future will see billionaires buying up news media so that they can mimic Trumps's strategy by megaphoning their candidate's appeals for attention."
The candidates with the best opposite qualities are either ignored or condescended to. Or they can't get enough money to ever become candidates. Their ideas are sidelined. That's when destructive norms take over.
Thus to start more healthy democratic trends, the 1st steps are to reverse Citizens United, shorten the campaign season, and break up huge media monopolies, which profit greatly from the billionaire funded fees for political ads.
The candidates with the best opposite qualities are either ignored or condescended to. Or they can't get enough money to ever become candidates. Their ideas are sidelined. That's when destructive norms take over.
Thus to start more healthy democratic trends, the 1st steps are to reverse Citizens United, shorten the campaign season, and break up huge media monopolies, which profit greatly from the billionaire funded fees for political ads.
Count me amoung the 'idiot' trump supporters. At first, I was aghast that such a caricature of a candidate could be taken seriously. But now, I see Trump as a slap in the face to the rotted, corrupt, lying political actors we have been stuck with. So it's not that I believe him or believe in him; it's just that I would rather see him enter stage right that any more of the other deceitful and ineffective leaders. If you don't see the obviousness of the 9-11 coverup of building 7; that we are in the Middle East for the oil; That our leaders are not religious but insincerely use it as a wedge; and that they lie in totality about our economy and finances, then you won't understand where I am coming from.
4
If you don't like or trust food additives, you don't turn to dumpster-diving for your nourishment.
Trump is a lot like Ross Perot. He says things that fire people up, but other than a handful of privileged insiders, he was a dreadful, intrusive, exploitative control freak boss. His third party collapsed as people realized all information and control flowed down, and nothing flowed back up.
Trump is a lot like Ross Perot. He says things that fire people up, but other than a handful of privileged insiders, he was a dreadful, intrusive, exploitative control freak boss. His third party collapsed as people realized all information and control flowed down, and nothing flowed back up.
1
Bingo, Michael. Just think about it: Trump versus Cruz. Now tell me who the buffoon is! [Not to mention Jeb! <---did you catch that?]
The key point Emma Roller makes here is about the enormous reach—and stupefying impact—of social media. Twitter, Facebook, and the other drive-by, point-and-shoot media operate on the reptilian cortex while, at the same time, maintaining the illusion of stimulating higher brain function.
Sometimes I feel like I've awakened suddenly in an updated version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers where iPhones have replaced alien seed pods in turning the humans who fall under their spell into listless, stupid, finger-browsing organisms demonically possessed to "follow" celebrity tweets and, perhaps, elect one president.
Sometimes I feel like I've awakened suddenly in an updated version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers where iPhones have replaced alien seed pods in turning the humans who fall under their spell into listless, stupid, finger-browsing organisms demonically possessed to "follow" celebrity tweets and, perhaps, elect one president.
3
I see the updated version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers thusly:
The cloying, internally inconsistent Clinton calculus. The unspoken Clinton threats. They permeate the atmosphere like a coiling miasma, choking off all freedom.
Even in New York.
Especially in New York.
When she wrote "The New Colossus," Emma Lazarus hardly had in mind this pair of mutant, deadly, twisted aliens.
So forget Arkansas-Illinois carpetbaggery and standard issue muckraking. The Clintons are aliens of quite another sort. They are extrinsic, not of this world. They are inhuman. They are dehumanizing.
In Act II, rabid anti-Clinton voters, roughly 63% of the U.S. populace according to as-yet-unpodded pollsters, become increasingly aware that they are disappearing in droves and being replaced by alien pod replicas that have their physical attributes but lack all anti-Clinton affect.
If Act I was a thinly veiled allegory about naked Clintonism, then Act II is a parable about the plan for world domination by the Establishment Left, aged hippies in pinstripes all, with their infantile, solipsistic world view amazingly untouched by time.
The cloying, internally inconsistent Clinton calculus. The unspoken Clinton threats. They permeate the atmosphere like a coiling miasma, choking off all freedom.
Even in New York.
Especially in New York.
When she wrote "The New Colossus," Emma Lazarus hardly had in mind this pair of mutant, deadly, twisted aliens.
So forget Arkansas-Illinois carpetbaggery and standard issue muckraking. The Clintons are aliens of quite another sort. They are extrinsic, not of this world. They are inhuman. They are dehumanizing.
In Act II, rabid anti-Clinton voters, roughly 63% of the U.S. populace according to as-yet-unpodded pollsters, become increasingly aware that they are disappearing in droves and being replaced by alien pod replicas that have their physical attributes but lack all anti-Clinton affect.
If Act I was a thinly veiled allegory about naked Clintonism, then Act II is a parable about the plan for world domination by the Establishment Left, aged hippies in pinstripes all, with their infantile, solipsistic world view amazingly untouched by time.
3
This piece is stupid, period.
6
l Donald Trump has identified problems while failing to identify solutions that support constitutional values that all are created equal. The common good and general welfare of our population remains the greatest challenge to those with the most power. Influence and resources
3
It would help stomp out Trump if his every nonsensical, bigoted, ignorant comment was repeated by every media outlet giving him the publicity that his egotistical, four-year old personality demands.
The NYT is one of the prime purveyors of Trump's bloviating. I look forward to the day when the Times editors no longer feel a need to place another article quoting Trump or an opinion piece about Trump on the webpage.
The NYT is one of the prime purveyors of Trump's bloviating. I look forward to the day when the Times editors no longer feel a need to place another article quoting Trump or an opinion piece about Trump on the webpage.
5
The best article on the WHY WHY WHY of Trump's popularity. What is also striking to me about Trump is how a man who portrays himself to be so virile in the Putin way is such a gossipy little guy, who also displays incredible sensitivity when criticized himself. What a cultural shift. When I grew up Gary Cooper was the role model for males. Today in one of his guises Trump strikes me to be Hedda Hooper.
5
>
Trump is just another part of this country's collective psychotic breakdown.
Spoiler alert: it ends badly.
“Mass culture is psychoanalysis in reverse”
Leo Lowenthal
Trump is just another part of this country's collective psychotic breakdown.
Spoiler alert: it ends badly.
“Mass culture is psychoanalysis in reverse”
Leo Lowenthal
5
Trump is the perfect caricature of candidates who have become caricatures of Trump. But he's the real deal; the others are phonies.
2
“Even a critical story, which may be hurtful personally, can be very valuable to your business.”
And that is exactly why he will win the nomination without a bead of sweat on his brow. Our government is now an indentured slave of the .01ers and their corporations, and has always functioned at times as a satellite office of Wall Street—now it's the other way around. Businessmen want a great businessman to run their country.
And Donald Trump is a better businessman than any of those other blowhards. He is also a vulgar, unprincipled, manipulative showman—a shoe-in for the millions of bubbas with bazookas.
And that is exactly why he will win the nomination without a bead of sweat on his brow. Our government is now an indentured slave of the .01ers and their corporations, and has always functioned at times as a satellite office of Wall Street—now it's the other way around. Businessmen want a great businessman to run their country.
And Donald Trump is a better businessman than any of those other blowhards. He is also a vulgar, unprincipled, manipulative showman—a shoe-in for the millions of bubbas with bazookas.
4
Hoover was also considered one of the best businessmen of the time. Why does the electorate think that businesspeople make good Presidents?
Trump's popularity mystifies and scares me. That said, I'm getting really tired of liberal analyses that stereotype all the Donald's supporters as stupid angry white guys. It just doesn't help. If many of "us" assume that America should not be guided by a bombastic, infantile, rude, sexist bully who has screwed thousands of working people (Atlantic City contractors and their employees) out of fair compensation through his deft bankruptcies, how do we plan to relay that message to the men and women who love Trump's rebellion and have stepped up to join it? Can any conversation take place at all, or is this simply now war?
165
You all can blame Trump for the failures of his business in Atlantic City.
You all seem to forget, he along with others stepped up to the plate when the Liberals politicians in N J , especially Atlantic (Cesspool) City were running it into the ground.
These business men came in , invested their hard earned money in an attempt to revitalize the slums called Atlantic city. Unfortunately, the residents in the area did not appreciate traveling through the rest of the cesspool to get to this resort in the bottom of hell.
You all seem to forget, he along with others stepped up to the plate when the Liberals politicians in N J , especially Atlantic (Cesspool) City were running it into the ground.
These business men came in , invested their hard earned money in an attempt to revitalize the slums called Atlantic city. Unfortunately, the residents in the area did not appreciate traveling through the rest of the cesspool to get to this resort in the bottom of hell.
2
It is hard to have a conversation with someone who speaks a different language, as it is hard to debate someone who makes up their own facts.
What has to happen is the revolution that Bernie is inspiring; a revolution of millions of voters who will simply overwhelm the conventional wisdom and the establishment in sheer numbers.
There really are many more people who are smarter and paying more attention to the reality than Trump supporters. We just don't get the press.
What has to happen is the revolution that Bernie is inspiring; a revolution of millions of voters who will simply overwhelm the conventional wisdom and the establishment in sheer numbers.
There really are many more people who are smarter and paying more attention to the reality than Trump supporters. We just don't get the press.
Another article in today's Times mentions how Trump is attacking Hillary Clinton through her husband and his various activities with other women.
However, Bill Clinton hasn't stiffed workers by declaring bankruptcy. He is still married to Hillary-somehow they reached an agreement on his behavior. So should the rest of the country. Note that he stayed with her; he did not dump her and run off with a series of others.
When Bill Clinton left office, the US was in a better position economically than it was when he entered the White House. Would Trump lead the US into bankruptcy as he has done with his own ventures?
The middle of the country supporters of Trump like his bravado and wish they could do the same. They work hard and contribute much to the economy. Without those who put things together and fix it when it's broken the US would fall apart. They are a very necessary part of our economy and should be rewarded better for their efforts. However, that will not happen if Trump becomes President.
However, Bill Clinton hasn't stiffed workers by declaring bankruptcy. He is still married to Hillary-somehow they reached an agreement on his behavior. So should the rest of the country. Note that he stayed with her; he did not dump her and run off with a series of others.
When Bill Clinton left office, the US was in a better position economically than it was when he entered the White House. Would Trump lead the US into bankruptcy as he has done with his own ventures?
The middle of the country supporters of Trump like his bravado and wish they could do the same. They work hard and contribute much to the economy. Without those who put things together and fix it when it's broken the US would fall apart. They are a very necessary part of our economy and should be rewarded better for their efforts. However, that will not happen if Trump becomes President.
1
People who aren't winning in life, or at least waking up feeling fulfilled in some sense of the word, will gravitate towards a candidate who is constantly on the offensive, and who may be perceived in some circles as a winner.
As was recently highlighted in the Times, the 1989 book, "The Closing of the American Mind" examined the changes in the US education system that traced the shift from a broad based liberal education to a narrow, utilitarian one. There was Alex Keaton on a TV sitcom, and Ronald Reagan popping jelly beans and making cheeky statements about how government was the problem - case closed. We tried to stabilize the situation in the 1990's with some folksy wisdom from Bill and a relatively peaceful eight years, but Greenspan's inability to stick with his "irrational exuberance" claim re Wall Street and W's subsequent ruination of the Middle East prevented a new age in the 21st century. Many view the past 15 years as one long national nightmare.
Now all of that has come home to roost in the form of the viral pap which floods the Internet, including anything Trump says that titillates the senses (or apparently the lower brain function) of his flock. Psychological name calling will not stop the Trump rant designed for people who are losing. To them, voting for Trump and abandoning the "normal" candidates, compromise, civility makes perfect sense.
The worry amongst the plutocrats is that too many now fall into the loser category. What to do?
As was recently highlighted in the Times, the 1989 book, "The Closing of the American Mind" examined the changes in the US education system that traced the shift from a broad based liberal education to a narrow, utilitarian one. There was Alex Keaton on a TV sitcom, and Ronald Reagan popping jelly beans and making cheeky statements about how government was the problem - case closed. We tried to stabilize the situation in the 1990's with some folksy wisdom from Bill and a relatively peaceful eight years, but Greenspan's inability to stick with his "irrational exuberance" claim re Wall Street and W's subsequent ruination of the Middle East prevented a new age in the 21st century. Many view the past 15 years as one long national nightmare.
Now all of that has come home to roost in the form of the viral pap which floods the Internet, including anything Trump says that titillates the senses (or apparently the lower brain function) of his flock. Psychological name calling will not stop the Trump rant designed for people who are losing. To them, voting for Trump and abandoning the "normal" candidates, compromise, civility makes perfect sense.
The worry amongst the plutocrats is that too many now fall into the loser category. What to do?
4
The appeal of Donald Trump?
The problem appears to me located in American public sphere and controlling of narrative by both major political parties. The effect of both major political parties on public sphere is something of the effect of someone with bad hearing designing and defining music, which is to say we all are aware that bad hearing is hearing within a narrow range and highs and lows are lost--music gets crushed within a narrow and mediocre range.
Well, both major political parties, each in own way, apparently feel words are dangerous and crush highs and lows to mediocrity, which means no exact science, philosophy, higher thinking or lowbrow stuff like racist and sexist jokes and so on--just narrow range...Years of public education, mass pitted against mass, has resulted in a public stalemate of words crushed to banal standard.
Everything from comedy to philosophy to science to just honest conversation is at stake. Enter Donald Trump. He is without question on the lowbrow end of things for all his wealth, but he appears a revelation simply because the public sphere has been crushed to a mediocre standard of thought and conversation. Hearing Trump is like a person with bad hearing suddenly being able to hear at least something that was lost long ago.
The antidote to Trump is painful but necessary: Widen range of public sphere thought and conversation. If I were to write a novel it would be both lowbrow and offensive but of the highest and rarest philosophy.
The problem appears to me located in American public sphere and controlling of narrative by both major political parties. The effect of both major political parties on public sphere is something of the effect of someone with bad hearing designing and defining music, which is to say we all are aware that bad hearing is hearing within a narrow range and highs and lows are lost--music gets crushed within a narrow and mediocre range.
Well, both major political parties, each in own way, apparently feel words are dangerous and crush highs and lows to mediocrity, which means no exact science, philosophy, higher thinking or lowbrow stuff like racist and sexist jokes and so on--just narrow range...Years of public education, mass pitted against mass, has resulted in a public stalemate of words crushed to banal standard.
Everything from comedy to philosophy to science to just honest conversation is at stake. Enter Donald Trump. He is without question on the lowbrow end of things for all his wealth, but he appears a revelation simply because the public sphere has been crushed to a mediocre standard of thought and conversation. Hearing Trump is like a person with bad hearing suddenly being able to hear at least something that was lost long ago.
The antidote to Trump is painful but necessary: Widen range of public sphere thought and conversation. If I were to write a novel it would be both lowbrow and offensive but of the highest and rarest philosophy.
4
To me, the most interesting part of lies being converted into truths under the viral effecst of today’s social media is the parallel with monster Joseph Goebbels who since the 1930’s performed that same type of conversion. “If you repeat a lie enough times, it will become a truth”. In today’s world with social media, lies are repeated much more times than in the pre-Television era in Germany. Of course I know the following is not true, but if I was an alien studying Earth, I would think that Mr. Trump was an exceptionally accomplished follower of Goebbels. Maybe that same social media will contribute to reconvert Mr. Trump truths back to the lies they are.
9
About 25 years ago we began hearing about "computer viruses" and at the time it was a striking metaphor, implying that information could become "infected" and "ill". With the coming of the internet, this information sickness became "contagious" and spread from PC to PC. These weren't good things. With social media, the virus becomes a "good thing": hey, my off-hand remarks and video have gone "viral" and I've affected--make that infected-- thousands of "users"! Most of these messages are trivial, but what they lack in profundity or insight they make up for in numbers infected. Enjoy your Symptom! That must be what's it's like to be--not a Trump supporter--but a host for the Trump virus.
46
Reply to Burroughs Western Lands - You confuse "virus" a thing, with "viral" a process. I think a more clear analogy is a "fad."
Whether the characterization is viral, catchy, bigotry out whatever, his command of our media is impressive. On top of this he is getting it for free. Regular participants see right through his antics, but for some reason the media continues to place Mr. Trump in their prime discussion. I ask you who is the bigger buffoon, the manipulator our the manipulated.
4
This only proves how stupid and "Trumped-up" most research in psychology is. So people act on their deepest emotions. Really? I never would have thought of that. And "conservatives" are somehow more reactive than liberals? How is that determined? What is the relationship between political preference and our deepest emotions anyway? How is "conservatism" even defined in these studies?
4
If you approve of Trump, I think it's safe to assume you're conservative.
Trump's incessant drum beats are reminiscent of William Randolph Hearst's rants against Japanese Americans following Pearl Harbor. The lessons of Manzanar , Tule Lake and Heart Mountain seem lost in the current media frenzy.
3
"...debate performances worthy of W.W.E. 'SmackDown'.." - if even...
The description of conservatives as rigid thinkers motivated by fear and hate, who prefer negative concrete statements to slightly positive ambiguity seems accurate in today's political climate. So in simpler words that the republicans can understand, " conservatives are stupid, fearful, hateful, rigid people ".
2
I'm shocked!....shocked, I tell you!...that the NY Times would publish a hit-piece on Trump--disguised as a serious column about the role of the internet in political marketing. Who would have thunk it? He's a Republican and you don't approve? Again..shocking!
You guys can't even fake "fair and balanced" can you?....not even for a moment.
You guys can't even fake "fair and balanced" can you?....not even for a moment.
3
This piece helps to clarify the tension between the role of the media as a source of vital information and analysis, on the one hand, and its function as a major industry, on the other. Newspapers, for example, prosper by providing the public with data and ideas we cannot acquire on our own. To beat their competitors, however, each paper tends to focus on the stories and interpretations its editors believe will attract the most readers.
This commercial incentive converts some news outlets into peddlers of sensationalism. The NYT, driven by higher standards and the search for a more sophisticated audience, spurns the tabloid approach but still capitulates to the popular fascination with Trump. But the key question remains: did the Times and the rest of the media create this interest through extensive coverage of a highly quotable candidate; or did the industry simply pander to a pre-existing demand for information about a P.T. Barnum in political disguise?
In either case, the Times permitted its natural need for profits to overwhelm the journalistic instinct that Senator Sanders' candidacy represented a far more serious and worthwhile story. The Democrat, being an adult, focuses on issues and his objectives. Trump, being something else, converts even his speeches into a series of tweets, and substitutes personal vitriol for a serious discussion of his platform.
By choosing the ephemeral over the substantive, the NYT helped extend the shelf life of the former.
This commercial incentive converts some news outlets into peddlers of sensationalism. The NYT, driven by higher standards and the search for a more sophisticated audience, spurns the tabloid approach but still capitulates to the popular fascination with Trump. But the key question remains: did the Times and the rest of the media create this interest through extensive coverage of a highly quotable candidate; or did the industry simply pander to a pre-existing demand for information about a P.T. Barnum in political disguise?
In either case, the Times permitted its natural need for profits to overwhelm the journalistic instinct that Senator Sanders' candidacy represented a far more serious and worthwhile story. The Democrat, being an adult, focuses on issues and his objectives. Trump, being something else, converts even his speeches into a series of tweets, and substitutes personal vitriol for a serious discussion of his platform.
By choosing the ephemeral over the substantive, the NYT helped extend the shelf life of the former.
2
The people watching Fox are Trumping those who listen to NPR. It's really that simple, and that frightening. Comes news this morning that, at least in one new poll, Trump and Clinton are neck-and-neck. Maybe a little more coverage of Sanders, and the issues, would help. Or maybe not. Maybe at this point we're just completely lost. We'll soon find out.
5
Don Henley figured this out with his song "Dirty Laundry", which was released in 1982. Sure, the song applies to the if-it-bleeds-it-leads TV news business, but it also applies to any chump who decides to go outrageous and get maximum exposure among the weak-minded. Ratings-driven clowns have always been with us, and Donald Trump is no different.
3
I couldn't ( at first glance) go beyond the tabloid title, until it dawned on me that this was about viral-ity. So is this tied in any way to the reports that most high school grads aren't ready for any part of adult life? That they function, in terms of verbal and math literacy, at around the 5th-6th grade? Or that the digital age is being divided into have (minds) vs have nots, as increasingly no personal energy or attention is required to be entertained, which is mistaken for thinking? Credits to Socrates; the worst parts of our legacy are metasasizing.
4
For all his foibles and faults the fact remains that Trump continues to grow from strength to strength, cocking a snook at all his critics, the political pundits who prognosticated that he was entertainment value, but not cut out for serious business as the white House.His pronouncements in the aftermath of the Terrorists strike in San Bernadino had the media and his opponents in a tizzy and gunning for him but like the Teflon coating nothing sticks to him. He has the highest approval rating today in the run up to the presidential hustings and who Knows with a bit of panache, telehistrionics and lady luck he might occupy the Oval Office.
2
God forbid!
This is one of the most sophisticated blendings of medianalysis [sic] and pop neuropsychology I've read.
Useful, if only at cocktail parties.
What wold also be useful to find out is how use of social media cross tabs with population, households, income, gender, education, region, voter registration, and likelihood of voting.
Maybe it already exists. Too hurried to Google it at this point.
My hunch is that these sorts of folks are potentially less likely to vote than what we'll call, without hesitation, a higher knowledge demographic.
But who knows whether emotion ginned up by Twitter (outside the Beltway) and Facebook can drive people to the polls.
Useful, if only at cocktail parties.
What wold also be useful to find out is how use of social media cross tabs with population, households, income, gender, education, region, voter registration, and likelihood of voting.
Maybe it already exists. Too hurried to Google it at this point.
My hunch is that these sorts of folks are potentially less likely to vote than what we'll call, without hesitation, a higher knowledge demographic.
But who knows whether emotion ginned up by Twitter (outside the Beltway) and Facebook can drive people to the polls.
1
“What goes viral is what we think is remarkable...In a way, it represents what we as a society think is worth talking about"
Grumpy cats...and Donald trump. Both truly 'remarkable'.
Grumpy cats...and Donald trump. Both truly 'remarkable'.
3
Confession: My bleary eyes quickly read the title of this piece and construed it as an article about the Donald's "virility". My bad indeed, although his virality is almost as bad. As is the following statement:
"Almost three-quarters of adults in the United States use social networking sites, and more than half of Facebook and Twitter users get their news through those sites. News consumption has gotten both faster and more siloed by ideology."
It's no wonder the US is sinking faster than the Titanic. Anyone who spends half an hour on FB has to plow through mountains of trivia, with the occasional funny poster. When people are getting and digesting "news" on social media--at lightening speed, with no analysis or counter arguments--it's one more way we're seeing the ''dumbing down" of this country.
The Donald is far from dumb--his mastery of media to advance his persona, for good or for bad, has been well known before this "campaign". In fact, had his antics been described in an essay or screenplay, people would take it for literary farce, or the plot for a black humor comedy.
But it's almost 2016 and this is America: and if half of FB users get their news on these sites, it's bad news for our advancement as a nation. At time when critical thinking has never been more in demand, we simply aren't getting it from the Donald--leading in the polls--or the folks who are in love with his repetitive act.
"Almost three-quarters of adults in the United States use social networking sites, and more than half of Facebook and Twitter users get their news through those sites. News consumption has gotten both faster and more siloed by ideology."
It's no wonder the US is sinking faster than the Titanic. Anyone who spends half an hour on FB has to plow through mountains of trivia, with the occasional funny poster. When people are getting and digesting "news" on social media--at lightening speed, with no analysis or counter arguments--it's one more way we're seeing the ''dumbing down" of this country.
The Donald is far from dumb--his mastery of media to advance his persona, for good or for bad, has been well known before this "campaign". In fact, had his antics been described in an essay or screenplay, people would take it for literary farce, or the plot for a black humor comedy.
But it's almost 2016 and this is America: and if half of FB users get their news on these sites, it's bad news for our advancement as a nation. At time when critical thinking has never been more in demand, we simply aren't getting it from the Donald--leading in the polls--or the folks who are in love with his repetitive act.
109
" At time when critical thinking has never been more in demand, we simply aren't getting it from the Donald--leading in the polls--or the folks who are in love with his repetitive act."
until your last sentence in your post you were going to receive a recommend from me. then your liberal colors burst through with its unthinking afterthought comment. otherwise it should have been an editor's pick for its thoughtfulness.
too bad.
until your last sentence in your post you were going to receive a recommend from me. then your liberal colors burst through with its unthinking afterthought comment. otherwise it should have been an editor's pick for its thoughtfulness.
too bad.
1
@Charles: In case you hadn't noticed, the NYT is a decidedly liberal newspaper, and many, if not most, of its readers are liberal. I stand by my entire comment, which was made in response to the article itself, which decried the lack of critical thinking in the Trump campaign as follows:
"That Mr. Trump is both volatile in nature and allergic to nuance is part of his viral success. Humans use mental shortcuts to process information quickly while conserving brain power. This means that we often don’t think critically about the information we’re receiving before sharing it with others."
"That Mr. Trump is both volatile in nature and allergic to nuance is part of his viral success. Humans use mental shortcuts to process information quickly while conserving brain power. This means that we often don’t think critically about the information we’re receiving before sharing it with others."
2
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
-- Thomas Jefferson
Let's face it, Americans are not particularly bright...and a lot of them are just plain mean and rotten.
If you build a national bed of political soil with cultured ignorance, the worst human behavior is sure to flourish.
http://goo.gl/KBTPsb
Earlier this year after the Charleston gun massacre of black churchgoers by a white racist, not a single Republican presidential candidate had the character or courage to tell South Carolina to stop flying the Confederate battle flag from its state capitol.
This was 150 years after America formally defeated its own version of the Nazi Party, the Old Confederacy that was founded, owned and operated by the worst human instincts of Americans.
As David Goldman writes, America's "refusal to look squarely at the evil character of the American Confederacy turned us into idiots; America never recovered from its Civil War."
"The defeated white South could not admit to itself that it had gotten precisely what was coming to it for wickedness of slavery"....and after the Civil War, instead of the South fixing itself with integration, education and human rights, it opted for the cultured ignorance of religion, the raising of the Confederate flag and the Ku Klux Klan.
Confederate stupidity metastasized nationwide.
FOX News and Rush Limbaugh fertilized the soil.
Donald Trump is a wonderful gardener.
-- Thomas Jefferson
Let's face it, Americans are not particularly bright...and a lot of them are just plain mean and rotten.
If you build a national bed of political soil with cultured ignorance, the worst human behavior is sure to flourish.
http://goo.gl/KBTPsb
Earlier this year after the Charleston gun massacre of black churchgoers by a white racist, not a single Republican presidential candidate had the character or courage to tell South Carolina to stop flying the Confederate battle flag from its state capitol.
This was 150 years after America formally defeated its own version of the Nazi Party, the Old Confederacy that was founded, owned and operated by the worst human instincts of Americans.
As David Goldman writes, America's "refusal to look squarely at the evil character of the American Confederacy turned us into idiots; America never recovered from its Civil War."
"The defeated white South could not admit to itself that it had gotten precisely what was coming to it for wickedness of slavery"....and after the Civil War, instead of the South fixing itself with integration, education and human rights, it opted for the cultured ignorance of religion, the raising of the Confederate flag and the Ku Klux Klan.
Confederate stupidity metastasized nationwide.
FOX News and Rush Limbaugh fertilized the soil.
Donald Trump is a wonderful gardener.
400
Curious to know what the Republican puppet masters like Rush Limbaugh, Bill Kristol, Glen Beck, FoxNews-experts-on-everything...think about Trump as their leader and Master.
2
Now this is a Howard Beale moment that I can support. Talk about opening windows!
2
An excellent summary of why we should be very pessimistic about the United States. Too many dullards uninterested or incapable of absorbing real world facts, and so much easier to eat the corrosive, divisive pablum of Trump and the rest of the GOP fearmongers. The country is going to consume itself.
1
"Humans use mental shortcuts to process information quickly while conserving brain power. This means that we often don’t think critically about the information we’re receiving before sharing it with others."
Right - and this tendency will be deadly for democracy. The cultivation of an ability to think dispassionately about the world is the core responsibility of every citizen in a contemporary nation state - and it's time that our media began bludgeoning Americans over the head with this responsibility, instead of mindlessly reporting on their whims and Facebook likes.
While the people in a contemporary democracy are necessarily sovereign, they can also be idiots. Trump is the candidate of adrenaline-addicted idiots.
What's even more disheartening, however, is that Trump is actually a moderate compared to his leading competitor for GOP nomination, Ted Cruz - whose father is openly associated with a group advocating Christian totalitarianism. Cruz is the candidate of cold, calculating fascists.
Go Donald.
Right - and this tendency will be deadly for democracy. The cultivation of an ability to think dispassionately about the world is the core responsibility of every citizen in a contemporary nation state - and it's time that our media began bludgeoning Americans over the head with this responsibility, instead of mindlessly reporting on their whims and Facebook likes.
While the people in a contemporary democracy are necessarily sovereign, they can also be idiots. Trump is the candidate of adrenaline-addicted idiots.
What's even more disheartening, however, is that Trump is actually a moderate compared to his leading competitor for GOP nomination, Ted Cruz - whose father is openly associated with a group advocating Christian totalitarianism. Cruz is the candidate of cold, calculating fascists.
Go Donald.
46
"the people in a contemporary democracy are necessarily sovereign." Not if they agree, like mature adults, to cede sovereignty to a state.
dES, the people are free to change their representatives at regular intervals, who can then change absolutely anything about that state - which was my point.
For instance, if you don't like something about a constitution, you can amend it. You're not married to it in perpetuity. But you must be able to think critically before attempting to do so - and not merely be reacting to whims and fears - at least if you hope to get others to also embrace your idea.
For instance, if you don't like something about a constitution, you can amend it. You're not married to it in perpetuity. But you must be able to think critically before attempting to do so - and not merely be reacting to whims and fears - at least if you hope to get others to also embrace your idea.
1
Right now hundreds of upstart reporters are searching all over the world where Trump has done deals looking for examples of his mistreatment.
By now they would have found at least one.
They have not.
That a problem for Liberals.
By now they would have found at least one.
They have not.
That a problem for Liberals.
1
Upstart? "Problem for liberals?" Problem for America more like. But if you want a Trump skuzzy deal, look at his golf-course in Scotland, and see that the Scottish administration recently tossed him off their advisory board, and that one of their universities withdrew an honorary degree conferred a few years ago. Or stay at home, and look at his tendency to dump projects that are no longer working for him, like casinos and wives.
1
That [sic] a problem for all humans.
What difference does that make? This drooling idiot is an election away from potentially becoming the next president. Is that what this country really wants? The bigots and the haters and the ignorant uninformed masses well have gotten what they think they wanted. Then what? This clown is clueless. Some really terrible things will happen if he wins. We think we have problems now, we haven't seen anything yet. Voter beware.
1
He is entertainment, not a serious candidate. The media must stop feeding the Trump frenzy
25
Thank you Emma Roller for a very eye opening piece.
But I think the name 'Frankenstein' is the most appropriate term for Donald Trump .
He's is also the '10,000 pound gorilla in the room' for the Republican party who nurtured a base of supporters who're so hateful from the beginning of the Current Republican Party that it was quite natural that a 'virus' called Trump will take over the party's changing face and use the same base that the G.O.P. cultivated over the years to win the midterm elections and currently controlling both the Senate and the Congress .
Actually, nothing surprises me and I'm still stumped that how the stalwarts of the Republican party couldn't foresee what I with a limited experience of politics, saw it very clearly beforehand.
The Republican Party left their door so wide open for the demagogues to just barge in after the last mid-term election that anybody with a very twisted mind (like Trump) could just take over the conversation .
And the result being, establishment candidates like Jeb Bush who's definitely a moderate candidate compared to Trump's bombast isn't getting any airplay and so no traction in the polls.
Actually its really a very sad commentary on the party of Lincoln who went so far right mainly because of the inclusion of the Southern Democrats whom Nixon exploited and forced them to rebel against their own party after the passing of the 'Civil Rights Act' in 1964 and the consequent passing of the 'Voting Rights Act' of 1965...tkb
But I think the name 'Frankenstein' is the most appropriate term for Donald Trump .
He's is also the '10,000 pound gorilla in the room' for the Republican party who nurtured a base of supporters who're so hateful from the beginning of the Current Republican Party that it was quite natural that a 'virus' called Trump will take over the party's changing face and use the same base that the G.O.P. cultivated over the years to win the midterm elections and currently controlling both the Senate and the Congress .
Actually, nothing surprises me and I'm still stumped that how the stalwarts of the Republican party couldn't foresee what I with a limited experience of politics, saw it very clearly beforehand.
The Republican Party left their door so wide open for the demagogues to just barge in after the last mid-term election that anybody with a very twisted mind (like Trump) could just take over the conversation .
And the result being, establishment candidates like Jeb Bush who's definitely a moderate candidate compared to Trump's bombast isn't getting any airplay and so no traction in the polls.
Actually its really a very sad commentary on the party of Lincoln who went so far right mainly because of the inclusion of the Southern Democrats whom Nixon exploited and forced them to rebel against their own party after the passing of the 'Civil Rights Act' in 1964 and the consequent passing of the 'Voting Rights Act' of 1965...tkb
10
The repub party was purged of any moderates, clearing the way for domination by its worst instincts, that we see flowering now. It's aided by the establishment media, and by our racial history and repubs using it to gain power. Trump Trash is inevitable---all the elements of our big moneypolitics, big media infotainment news leads to it.
Thus part of the solution is to reverse citizens united and break up media monopolitis--that's a contagious diseasr weakening our democray.
Thus part of the solution is to reverse citizens united and break up media monopolitis--that's a contagious diseasr weakening our democray.
1
The press has done us a great disservice permitting Trump such total exposure
on the air, on phone calls - he was on Morning Joe for months and quoted
everywhere on tv. Instead of revealing his sordid story, much of which is
pretty spicy and "irreligious", and would turn off the religious right, he's been
allowed free reign as if he's pure as snow. On the other hand, Mrs. Clinton is
villified for her "shadowy" past. What a load of bull! And then we have the
ignorant masses who love this macho craphead Trump, and who have been
dumbed down by watching Fox for years, and hearing Republican lies as well.
What a shameful mess we're in, America, I lost you.
on the air, on phone calls - he was on Morning Joe for months and quoted
everywhere on tv. Instead of revealing his sordid story, much of which is
pretty spicy and "irreligious", and would turn off the religious right, he's been
allowed free reign as if he's pure as snow. On the other hand, Mrs. Clinton is
villified for her "shadowy" past. What a load of bull! And then we have the
ignorant masses who love this macho craphead Trump, and who have been
dumbed down by watching Fox for years, and hearing Republican lies as well.
What a shameful mess we're in, America, I lost you.
34
Why Trump resonates with the American people: He tells the truth about our borders, illegal and legal immigration and our refugee policies ( or lack thereof). He tells the truth about the corporatists and their bought-and-paid-for political hacks who have sold this country down the river.
The 3 biggest issues in the '16 election: Sovereignty, security and jobs. Sealing our borders and putting a 40 year hiatus on immigration like we did in 1924 will bring back jobs to our middle class.
This is why Trump is winning.
The 3 biggest issues in the '16 election: Sovereignty, security and jobs. Sealing our borders and putting a 40 year hiatus on immigration like we did in 1924 will bring back jobs to our middle class.
This is why Trump is winning.
3
right, and that "hiatus" on immigration helped she in the Great Depression.
It seems to me that "the Donald" may have a severe case of "affluenza", a newly made up excuse for extremely narcissistic, egotistical, amoral people who believe that because they are wealthy and privileged, used to getting whatever they want when they want it, qualifies him to be President of our country. What I find equally terrifying is that there seem to be many people who have "drunk the koolaid" and fallen for this ego-trip by a little boy in a man's body who wants what he wants when he wants it, and usually gets it. Imagine hin in charge of issues such as diplomacy, and nuclear deployment.
26
The Buddhists call it "monkey brain" - a restless, thoughtless, emotion driven way of thinking. Thanks in part to social media, we have become a society of monkey brains and will probably elect one as the world's leader.
66
The new generation growing up on Instagram, snapchat, Facebook and text messaging are used to short captive messages. They do not have time or patience to read beyond one line. Those who actually pick up a book speed read through it. They might have patience for YouTube or Netflix or Hulu so they can watch or listen to their choice at their convenience and demand. We live in times where the new generation is addicted to screens, be it smartphone or computer or video game or TV. Anyone who gets their attention, rules the coming decade.
1
If fact the vast majority have minds "like a barrel of monkeys" most of the time. Far from being "thoughtless," the mind produces a constant stream of thoughts. For people of all political stripes Buddhist wisdom offers a path of learning: how to recognize these thoughts, examine them, and trace them to their source. That process alone would be enough to see ourselves and each other quite differently. A very different politics would emerge.
2
Gerald, being mindful and aware of our thoughts would solve bunch of human problems which are mostly created by our thoughts and perceptions, in the first place.
2
I get it.
Donald Trump is a tin-foil-hat-gone-viral.
Donald Trump is a tin-foil-hat-gone-viral.
11
These days the best thing about the NYT is the readers' responses to the paper's blatantly biased editorials, commentaries and "news analyses."
On the one hand, the Times is shamelessly promoting Hillary Clinton. It can scarcely write "Bernie Sanders" without prefixing "socialist," or "grumpy." On the other hand, it treats every idiotic pronouncement of Donald Trump or one of the other (equally dreadful) top Republican contenders as headline-worthy.
What happened to "all the news that's fit to print?" What happened to the wall between news and editorial comment that was drummed into me and my fellow student journalists decades ago?
Shame on the NYT for deluging us with trash like this column. Cheers for fellow readers, Bernie supporters or not, who speak truth to your power every time you let them get a word in.
On the one hand, the Times is shamelessly promoting Hillary Clinton. It can scarcely write "Bernie Sanders" without prefixing "socialist," or "grumpy." On the other hand, it treats every idiotic pronouncement of Donald Trump or one of the other (equally dreadful) top Republican contenders as headline-worthy.
What happened to "all the news that's fit to print?" What happened to the wall between news and editorial comment that was drummed into me and my fellow student journalists decades ago?
Shame on the NYT for deluging us with trash like this column. Cheers for fellow readers, Bernie supporters or not, who speak truth to your power every time you let them get a word in.
20
Excellent points, Judy. I hope other readers reply and the fellow (woman, men, women?) who moderate these comments are paying attention - and more important, have some lines of communication open with the folks who have some power as to what gets printed in the Times.
The Times modified its "All the news that's fit to print" slogan slightly; now it's "All the news that fits."
2
The Donald just pronounced the American dream dead. Then he said he would make it [the American Dream] more beautiful and [blah blah blah] again.
Is he running for president as the world's greatest mortician or as the second coming of the divine person who gave Lazarus a second chance?
Is he running for president as the world's greatest mortician or as the second coming of the divine person who gave Lazarus a second chance?
4
Trump is outrageous - to his own detriment he does not distinguish between supporters and the outraged. Millions may re-tweet what he says and he brags about that but a fair number are outraged ("look what this bully said now"). He has supporters (which is a very sad commentary about some segments of our population), but also many, many detractors. If he is quoted or cited, the Donald counts it all as 'love' for him and his ideas. While even bad attention may have a certain value in business or advertising, in politics only that which translates into actual votes FOR him will matter.
9
I hope.
Donald Trump may be the first "Gonzo" politician. Hunter S. Thompson made himself as much a part of the story,as the subject he was writing about, and invented "Gonzo"journalism. Trump is always the story.The medium is the message.Donald is the medium. Trumps proclivity for misinformation, incendiary rhetoric, and personal attacks on opponents, with no concern for factual accuracy, are perfect for unfiltered social media.Since Donald Trump is establishing a completely new paradigm for a presidential candidate, no one has any idea if "virality" has a correlation to any portent of electability.
27
Mr. Trump is at least not boring.
4
Yes, the idea of a steamroller crushing all opposition in its way. Getting things done without the consideration of due process. Marching into battle without conference with your allies. It is not as if these scenarios haven't been played out before to the absolute detriment and destruction of any hope or result for any alliances or common good in a nation.
1
Americans like to be entertained, non stop.
1
his shtick is boring and evil, he's a moron.
Please tell me what this article contributes? Somebody, please!
71
It provides one explanation of why the nation and its people are becoming second-rate.
13
Not much. Around 980 words telling us what we already know about so many Americans and where the wondrous technology of Facebook and Twitter have brought us.
Why his popularity is escalated by an emotional media system
Another Trump article, this time explaining why he gets so much attention. So it seems the NYTimes also falls for his tricks with continuing articles day in and day out. Enough of this guy. He's a joke and horrible for the country. From this point on, this reader will no longer make a comment on any article regarding Trump. I suggest the Times follows and decreases coverage, but I understand advertising dollars are nice. "Don't bite the hand that feeds you." Oh wait, but if you're the media, you can bite the mouth that feeds and it feeds you even more. Funny world we live in.
43
There is a simple way to get rid of Trump. The stupid, fearful, rigid thinking conservatives have to stop supporting him.
1
Why, why, why is the NY Times continuing to cover Trump's "keen sense of the obvious" ? We all learned early in school that the lowest common denominator could distract the class and interrupt our attention, or worse, make some of us casualties to bullying. This "Opinion Page", does affirm "All publicity is good publicity" for those seeking that.
1
The media has done a wonderful job of helping Trump with his outreach. Then they report their handiwork here. Trump says what ever he feels like and whatever he thinks will increase his polls. And The New York Times and other corporate owned media are happy to oblige him with free coverage. He's one of their own. There are only about six large media corporations which own nearly everything, including radio and newsprint. And they in turn are owned by super big corporations. Follow the money. Even a candidate who is overcoming Clinton rapidly, gets very little, if any stubstantive coverage, Bernie Sanders. The New York Times and others report on the "he said, she said" of little consequence, while basically ignoring the guts of the campaign; what are the platforms?!! of these candidates? They do their best to trivialize Sanders in interviews to follow their script. Trump is impolite and vulgar. Why report on the fact that Trump is bold and controversial? Why not tell us what he plans on doing? What about it? I want to hear more about Bernie Sanders' plans the most, because so far, everyone else is just copying him. Then the NYTimes reports what Trump and Clinton has copied, as if it is orignial to them. I don't want Trump or Clinton. Give me Sanders.
89
You can have Sanders.
Sharon5101, I truly hope we can have Sanders.
6
Sanders would go down to the worst Democratic defeat since George McGovern. Trump will win because America will never be ready for a woman president. It is what it is.
Trump is the most telegenic and entertaining candidate on the political scene. That quality alone will ensure that he will remain a top contender in our entertainment-loving country. His opponents are on notice to add more pizzazz to their presentations, and ditch some of their fine-tuned policy points. Otherwise they will fine it hard to beat Trump on the stump.
3
If you want entertainment go watch his reruns on Hulu, or better yet find copies of the RNC debacles... I mean debates. Frankly, this childish society that needs its political parties and leadership to entertain it in order to decide a full two years prior to the election who they are going to vote for seriously needs a rewind. im so glad we had a president like Obama who was not willing to cave to the silliness. so he wasn't a player... not a media hog... well he certainly has paid the price for not having the right publicity. But li and behold we ARE better off than we were 8 years ago despite the worst intentions of a stacked deck of Republican Representatives out to castigate his every move.
We are in a time when the world is interconnected in ways that require serious and thoughtful candidates... only two of which have proven themselves to be able to be on a national stage, both are the Democratic nominees...
And while there should have been far more serious candidates in the Republican clown car they too have proven themselves to be able to lower themselves to that lowest denominator, the media circus, and so the tittering Twitter war on intelligence and intellectual thought continues unfettered until the real election results can put an end to the perverse silliness. We will have our day in the voting booth.
We are in a time when the world is interconnected in ways that require serious and thoughtful candidates... only two of which have proven themselves to be able to be on a national stage, both are the Democratic nominees...
And while there should have been far more serious candidates in the Republican clown car they too have proven themselves to be able to lower themselves to that lowest denominator, the media circus, and so the tittering Twitter war on intelligence and intellectual thought continues unfettered until the real election results can put an end to the perverse silliness. We will have our day in the voting booth.
2
A citation from buzzfeed? well I guess this is the op ed section
4
We do not have a Republican candidate. At least we know where we stand with Donald Trump. Why not take a gamble and cast our vote for him? He will take care of us. Everything he touches turns into gold. Our children all want to be like him when they grow up and he is an inspiration to the paupers among us. Let's do it, folks, it's easy! No more worries about Mexicans, Muslims and Mass Transportation. Best of all, he is fun and never boring. A tremendous amount of energy and a representative of the American male. We will not have to worry about moral issues any more. Racism will be swept under the rug again where it belongs. One of our greatest showmen ever is about to take the crown. I tell you that he is going to take care of us and all we need to do is keep our nose clean, our mind will be free to roam in The Land of the Brave. Donald Trump is the American Dream and he wants to share it with you and me. What are we waiting for?
34
"...debate performances worthy of W.W.E. 'SmackDown'.." - if even...
Coherence?
Amen!!! It's time to restore the country that some of us see slipping away to its rightful place as the #1 leader everywhere.
Trump is getting love from angry GOP voters who aren't well off and don't get better jobs or better anything when the GOP wins. The spoils of victory don't trickle down to them and they love Trump for bashing GOP Sacred Cows like CEOs with huge salaries and special tax treatment for investment earnings vs wages. But Trump isn't their friend. What has Trump said or done done about living wage jobs?
Bernie Sanders should court them in full "angry old man" mode with examples of takeovers where workers were dumped and pensions cut drastically. No other candidate of either party would have credibility.
Bernie Sanders should court them in full "angry old man" mode with examples of takeovers where workers were dumped and pensions cut drastically. No other candidate of either party would have credibility.
39
Trump is getting love from voters who get screwed no matter who wins the elections. The middle class wages have been stagnant for decades through Democratic and Republican administrations. Tens of millions of good jobs got outsourced in the process. Let's be honest about this: the elites don't care about the commoners. They have proven it.
3
No, "Trump is getting love from angry GOP voters . . . " who are actually quite comfortable. Look at the cars and trucks parked for his events, but as Saint999 writes they are supporting a party and candidate that will not deliver much more than sympathetic angry rhetoric. A feel good cheerleader that rants.
2
Mr Trump is giving voice to a section of the electorate that feels frustrated, abandoned and disillusioned by both the GOP and the Democratic party. This section of the electorate has been described as working class without a college degree, many of whom have lost their high paying factory (and service center) jobs when those jobs were outsourced to China, Philippines, India etc. To add insult to injury, there is no serious attempt to stop the flow of illegal immigrants into the US, which has shown to drive down the wages of blue collar workers (even if the illegal immigration has an overall positive impact of the US economy, which can also be contested). These are reasonable concerns, but no politician (except Trump, that is) is willing to address these concerns. Trump is winning by default because he is the only one who is willing to represent the concerns this section of the electorate feels. The virality etc. discussed in the article is indeed a compliment for Trump's campaign team from an execution perspective but the #1 factor for Trump's success is in uncovering this disaffected segment of the electorate, and focusing the entire campaign around it.
16
But what is he offering by way of actual, practical solutions to these real problems? Bluster and resentment, nonsense and fantasy. Are things to be so because he says they are so?
The worst outcome: he is nominated and elected and then it becomes clear that his pitch has been all hot air and braggadocio. What do his aroused and enraged followers do then? The prospect is not pretty.
The worst outcome: he is nominated and elected and then it becomes clear that his pitch has been all hot air and braggadocio. What do his aroused and enraged followers do then? The prospect is not pretty.
2
So he is diagnosing and unearthing the reasons for the populace discontentment ang angst. But is he providing any plans, any policy steps to address these issues, beyond I will do this, I will do that, I will whip the do nothing Congress back to work, because I am rich rich rich and I don't need any money. I will work for $1 as a President!
2
Donald Trump, according to his own estimates, is a "billionaire," It is inconceivable that his operation is not using the best polling techniques available--he may have invented new ones.
He has not "mysteriously" tapped into the American psyche; he' shapping it.
He has not "mysteriously" tapped into the American psyche; he' shapping it.
3
Trump is primarily a reaction to political correctness and reverse racism. Clinton represents both. I don't want either of them.
6
Unfortunately, there's a significant part of the population who either can't think critically or don't chose to. They are seeking a confirmation for their fears and prejudices and Trump is confirming those feelings for them. And he is everywhere in all forms of the media, stocking their fears and hatreds. He's preying on people's ignorance and doing a really great job of it. But he has tapped into a significant part of the population that has been left behind economically and culturally as things have changed and they are really, really mad. He's taking advantage of a moment and there is a frightening brilliance to what he has achieved.
31
Sad to say, but Trump is what he is: a reflection of a sizeable portion of American's bigotry, hatred and ignorance for all the world to see.
412
No, Trump is a reflection of what many of us (I am well educated with two advanced degrees) feel about a government that is running roughshod over the citizens of the United States, putting them behind illegal immigrants and those who seek to destroy us. Following Trump is not so much about jobs, rather, it is about the unfairness that the U.S. citizen has felt under Obama, and a Republican majority in Congress that seems to be in bed with Obama.
1
Rightly said. American behavior is on exhibition and the question is are we going to usher in 2016 as notoriously shallow, loud mouthed, outrageous Americans?
1
What you write has some veracity, but if you think Trump is the answer to the issues you listed then you are truly sad and are going to be desperately disappointed.
People aren't sharing their own thoughts on Trump, they are sharing the media's coverage of Trump. His rise is a reflection of where the American media are at, their desire for fear, for sensationalism to keep eyeballs on them for their advertisers. The media itself has become source number 1 of disinformation and lack of critical thinking, when you leave America and go abroad, almost the first thing you realize is that TV News is very different outside America, the idea of News being a public service rather than an advertising service becomes really apparent. I have often wondered for instance Why there is no mention of Climate Change on American News? then you see that almost every second Ad in Ad break is for cars. Is there a correlation ? Ultimately I believe America is very badly served by it's news providers and sadly by it's journalists.
295
Michelle: Points are well taken but this has been going on for 35 years.
St. Reagan has come home to roost.
St. Reagan has come home to roost.
2
At the time of my retirement as a journalist in early 2000, many of my colleagues, both men and women, could have made more money in advertising or public relations. They were journalists because they understood the importance of the Fourth Estate in a democracy, and they wanted to be part of it. Today's journalists can make far more money telling lies for the on-line media than in any other work available to them. As a result, there are few honest, dedicated people left in the field.
2
Of course he "understood the concept of Internet vitality:" he's a salesman who sells flash-in-the-pan effects. Who knows the value of free advertising, and how to keep it coming.
He also knows how to get out of the deal with his money intact, when it starts to go sour. I only wonder how he'll get out of this one; and how much the country will go down because of him.
He also knows how to get out of the deal with his money intact, when it starts to go sour. I only wonder how he'll get out of this one; and how much the country will go down because of him.
9
The country will not go down nearly as much as it has under Obama.
We better ha-ha believe it, he is the strongest candidate who has spent far less than others and is so very popular i spite of some of the NYTimes' writers.Most of the writers still keep writing about Jebra even though he is doing so poorly and should step aside. Makes you wonder if the old man Bush, the former head of CIA, is still maneuvering the media to be favorable to Jebra!!
2
One way or another, Donald Trump is about to perform a great service for the United States: he will single-handedly drive a stake through the heart of the Republican Party. R.I.P. (It was once a great political party - the party of Lincoln and Eisenhower.)
120
Trump is the obituary. As a national party, the GOP died with W.
4
Now, I wonder who will drive a stake through the Democrat Party. It was once a Party that favored the working class, favored a strong United States, but now it is a Party that favors the illegal immigrant, and an ever weakening United States in an effort to make us the equal of other second-rate governments. We're not yet to third-world status, but the Democrats are trying.
2
The Republican Party may indeed already be dead: the problem is that we are now beset with zombies.
3
“Hate, fear of the other, anger — they come directly from the nonconscious, and that’s why they’re so easy to evoke,” Professor Rapson said. You got that right. And that is positively related to economic insecurity (see Mr Rattner's charts). As productivity and GDP grow, salaries and overall participation in the workforce of able bodied people (ages 24 to 55) continues to decrease. The economy is shaping ideology as always. The appearance or homestasis or equilibrium is no longer able to sustain, though, both in the economy or politics.
5
"Humans use mental shortcuts to process information quickly while conserving brainpower. This means that we often don't think critically about the information we're receiving before sharing it with others."
If only there were a "critical thinking" "brain power releasing" vaccine available to counter the " viral virus" that is Donald Trump. The anti-immigrant, gun rights at any cost, US Christians are victims of religious persecution, science is a government plot etc. fervor whipped up by Trump and his GOP cohorts hark back to the mass hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism.. If social media had been around then who knows how much more damage would have been done. "Mental shortcuts" are bringing this country to its knees.
If only there were a "critical thinking" "brain power releasing" vaccine available to counter the " viral virus" that is Donald Trump. The anti-immigrant, gun rights at any cost, US Christians are victims of religious persecution, science is a government plot etc. fervor whipped up by Trump and his GOP cohorts hark back to the mass hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism.. If social media had been around then who knows how much more damage would have been done. "Mental shortcuts" are bringing this country to its knees.
6
Your writing is filled with hyperbole.
1
The clickbait headline of this piece could have been written by Donald himself.
4
Florida will have a winner-takes-all primary. As of now, it looks quite possible that Donald Trump may be that winner.
9
High tech begat social media begat "virality," and the baseline of Donald Trump's candidacy is a mix of anger, hate and fear. I voted in my first presidential election in 1968; Richard Nixon cultivated the restless anxieties of America as it transitioned from a time of social and political activism (civil rights gains, integration, and the loosening of sexual restraint) to an entrenched, defensive and less tolerant landscape. When one tosses aside the short-lived (and hopeless) candidacies of George Wallace (1972) or Pat Buchanan in the 1980's, the man or woman declaring for the presidency steered clear of divisive, blatant anger and demagoguery based on race or ethnic differences, the machinations of Lee Awater and Karl Rove aside. Not so Donald Trump. Making his appeal more sinister is the anonymity that is the Internet, a quick-click culture that has bred a tremendous sounding board for hate. Social media, granted, is designed to traffic in emotion, and the more negative the emotion, the sexier its allure has become. The anger expressed is free, shared by like-minded individuals or groups. The anger, fear and hate are out there, hidden in plain view. Trump's legions feel no shame about their feelings nor does he about his naked Pied Piper appeal. They are what he is and it's socially acceptable.
10
Trump has many problems. And so does Hillary.
I would love to vote for "the other" but he or she ain't on the ballot.
The Times may be in love with Hillary but many of the normal guys aren't exactly joyous with her & Bill.
I would love to vote for "the other" but he or she ain't on the ballot.
The Times may be in love with Hillary but many of the normal guys aren't exactly joyous with her & Bill.
4
It's true, it's true - idiots are everywhere. Under rock, trees and sometime mushrooms lurk no-named souls of remarkable shallowness that no form of substance or truth emerges. They assemble in front of the TV watching Fox News shouting, fusing and cussing.
51
America does not want to unite when it comes to supporting a new leader. We are tired of being asked to roll up our sleeves and think about the Future. Many of us are struggling to place food on the table for our children. We do not have time to worry about politics. There is no reason to vote because others will show up in our place. We can go to church, or stay at home if we are fortunate to own a comfortable arm-chair.
If in doubt, I am sleeping well on the floor of a kind friend in the country and the last thing I want is a TV when it is much more interesting to see where our Country is going. The Giant in Retreat, America, my Country, I have failed you in some way and left you behind, while following the President because he has taught me that life is not a wedding party, and to stand grounded on my two feet as best as I can, or better.
If in doubt, I am sleeping well on the floor of a kind friend in the country and the last thing I want is a TV when it is much more interesting to see where our Country is going. The Giant in Retreat, America, my Country, I have failed you in some way and left you behind, while following the President because he has taught me that life is not a wedding party, and to stand grounded on my two feet as best as I can, or better.
1
Yes, whatever happened to the idiots who watch MSNBC? You don't give citizens of the United States much credit, do you?
Donald Trump: dragging our country through the gutter.
26
Let us not join 'The Sewers' or 'The Huns' of America.
The gutter is so large that even Trump and his monstrous ego can fit in it.
1
"'Donald Trump is telling them something they already believe, and they’re sharing it because they want other people to believe it too,' Professor Hemsley, who studies virality, said."
As if liberals don't do precisely the same thing: appeal to a supposedly authoritative figure to add weight to preexisting prejudices and beliefs.
"It is amazing how great the authority of a learned man is when he wants to prove to others things of which they are already convinced."
~ Alessandro Manzoni, "The Betrothed"
"'Conservatives tend to be a lot more reactive to negative information and they also tend to be a lot more insular in nature, and they also tend to have less tolerance for ambiguity,' Professor Okdie said. 'Conservatives would prefer a negative concrete statement to a slightly positive, uncertain statement.'"
Yes, soi-disant liberals' coruscating intelligence and the fair-mindedness they bring to their navigation of ambiguous data is stunning. All hail liberals. Must we forever be told the obvious: that the majority of Republican voters are dense. What depresses me about this is the way it paints all small-government ideology as pared down versions of insanity, allowing liberals a certain smugness as concerns the correctness of their views: "Of course they, the party of billionaires and hillbillies, cannot possibly be right about anything at all. Shall we have another latte?"
Everyone tells us why Trump is popular.
Our need is to know how to change that.
As if liberals don't do precisely the same thing: appeal to a supposedly authoritative figure to add weight to preexisting prejudices and beliefs.
"It is amazing how great the authority of a learned man is when he wants to prove to others things of which they are already convinced."
~ Alessandro Manzoni, "The Betrothed"
"'Conservatives tend to be a lot more reactive to negative information and they also tend to be a lot more insular in nature, and they also tend to have less tolerance for ambiguity,' Professor Okdie said. 'Conservatives would prefer a negative concrete statement to a slightly positive, uncertain statement.'"
Yes, soi-disant liberals' coruscating intelligence and the fair-mindedness they bring to their navigation of ambiguous data is stunning. All hail liberals. Must we forever be told the obvious: that the majority of Republican voters are dense. What depresses me about this is the way it paints all small-government ideology as pared down versions of insanity, allowing liberals a certain smugness as concerns the correctness of their views: "Of course they, the party of billionaires and hillbillies, cannot possibly be right about anything at all. Shall we have another latte?"
Everyone tells us why Trump is popular.
Our need is to know how to change that.
5
Spot on. The Journalists in the op ed sections are not really serious. They create trashy, bling articles just like politicians. The NYT is propelling Trump into the Whitehouse.
3
Or as Mark Twain wrote:
"[W]e all know that in all matters of mere opinion that [every] man is insane--just as insane as we are...we know exactly where to put our finger upon his insanity: it is where his opinion differs from ours....All Democrats are insane, but not one of them knows it. None but the Republicans. All the Republicans are insane, but only the Democrats can perceive it. The rule is perfect: in all matters of opinion our adversaries are insane."
"[W]e all know that in all matters of mere opinion that [every] man is insane--just as insane as we are...we know exactly where to put our finger upon his insanity: it is where his opinion differs from ours....All Democrats are insane, but not one of them knows it. None but the Republicans. All the Republicans are insane, but only the Democrats can perceive it. The rule is perfect: in all matters of opinion our adversaries are insane."
4
Thank you, David L, Jr. and this American read what you had to say with interest. A copy of Manzoni's novel rests by my side, and on awakening this morning, the words of Eric Hoffer, a great American author, a man of the People, came to mind that when 'a mob' gathers behind a leader, there is rarely a sense of collective shame.
H.L. Mencken on William Jennings Bryan:
… Bryan was a vulgar and common man, a cad undiluted. He was ignorant, bigoted, self-seeking, blatant and dishonest. His career brought him into contact with the first men of his time; he preferred the company of rustic ignoramuses. It was hard to believe, watching him at Dayton, that he had traveled, that he had been received in civilized societies, that he had been a high officer of state. He seemed only a poor clod like those around him, deluded by a childish theology, full of an almost pathological hatred of all learning, all human dignity, all beauty, all fine and noble things. He was a peasant come home to the dung-pile. Imagine a gentleman, and you have imagined everything that he was not.
Who does this somewhat remind you of?
… Bryan was a vulgar and common man, a cad undiluted. He was ignorant, bigoted, self-seeking, blatant and dishonest. His career brought him into contact with the first men of his time; he preferred the company of rustic ignoramuses. It was hard to believe, watching him at Dayton, that he had traveled, that he had been received in civilized societies, that he had been a high officer of state. He seemed only a poor clod like those around him, deluded by a childish theology, full of an almost pathological hatred of all learning, all human dignity, all beauty, all fine and noble things. He was a peasant come home to the dung-pile. Imagine a gentleman, and you have imagined everything that he was not.
Who does this somewhat remind you of?
408
Great find! And so apt. Thank you.
4
We are not interested in electing a 'Gentleman' to the White House, and in Trump, we have found an icon to emulate where good manners are not important; we know our place and where we stand. Mrs. Clinton for example ventures to cut taxes for households making about $290,000 a year, in order to help the Middle-Class.
A century ago, Manhattan was owned by the very rich. Some of these tycoons were known as Robber Barons. They would have axed Donald Trump off at the knees, and when asking a sibling of mine whether there were tears on the demise of his ferocious grand-father at his funeral, he snorted, and added 'tears of joy'.
For all I know this relation of mine belongs to the Upper-Class. Should he vote for Donald Trump, I will know that he is not long for this world. I still remember his bashing his head into a brick wall over the election of Nixon. I still remember America as a Republic with a two-Party System. Where are the 'Coke' Brothers? Are we living in a TV reality show or Hollywood movie?
I actually chided the Times when the Media was poking fun at Mr. Trump on the basis that he was not quite well and should be quietly taken aside because one should not play on an emotional disorder. America is having a break-down, this I believe is true, We will prevail but as a Nation, we are the poorer in spirit. Democracy in America is dead, and just a word for another day.
A century ago, Manhattan was owned by the very rich. Some of these tycoons were known as Robber Barons. They would have axed Donald Trump off at the knees, and when asking a sibling of mine whether there were tears on the demise of his ferocious grand-father at his funeral, he snorted, and added 'tears of joy'.
For all I know this relation of mine belongs to the Upper-Class. Should he vote for Donald Trump, I will know that he is not long for this world. I still remember his bashing his head into a brick wall over the election of Nixon. I still remember America as a Republic with a two-Party System. Where are the 'Coke' Brothers? Are we living in a TV reality show or Hollywood movie?
I actually chided the Times when the Media was poking fun at Mr. Trump on the basis that he was not quite well and should be quietly taken aside because one should not play on an emotional disorder. America is having a break-down, this I believe is true, We will prevail but as a Nation, we are the poorer in spirit. Democracy in America is dead, and just a word for another day.
Mencken, in the same 'obituary,' also called Bryan "the most sedulous flycatcher in American history, and in many ways the most successful." It fits Trump, too. Mencken goes on, "His quarry was, of course, not Musca domestica but Homo neandertanlensis. For years he tracked it with coo and bellow up and down the rustic backways of the Republic. Wherever the flambeaux of Chautaqua smoked and guttered and the bilge of idealism ran in the veins, and Baptist pastors dammed the brooks with the sanctified, and men gathered who were weary and heavy laden, and their wives who were full of Peruna [a patent tonic of the time] and fecund as the shad (Alosa sapidissima), there the indefatigable Jenniings set up his traps and spread his bait." A perfect description of Trump's method; but add in the viral media and television and it simplifies matters for demagogues like Trump and Bryan.
2
Why don't we credit where credit is due already? It's time to thank the NY Times and the rest of the mainstream media for the non-stop Donald Trump feeding frenzy. Despite the overwhelming negative columns on the Times OP Ed section and elsewhere, Trump's poll numbers just keep going up with no end in sight. Another website had Trump and Clinton deadlocked in a statistical deadheat. It's already safe to assume that Donald Trump could easily boast that he got his job through the NY Times next November.
20
Seems like critical op eds push DT's polls up, but so do favorable ones. It's the huge media attention by lazy columnists who ride the trends, and reinforce them to stay with it and influential. Instead we need columnists who do the work of objectively analyzing issues, and writing about them in concrete terms for voters. The T imes columnists don't want to do this work.
See W. Post Harold Meyerson for a better form of punditry, describing issues in simple concrete terms.
See W. Post Harold Meyerson for a better form of punditry, describing issues in simple concrete terms.
Thanks for this op ed. Hope the Times reads it. The problem is that the NY Times and established media is becoming party to this virality, when it should be dealing in veracity---re the validity of statements pro/con on issues. Very little issue coverage---why??
Imitating the internet, the established media is trying to compete to get eyeballs on the public’s mobile internet. Instead of holding to journalistic standards, the main media is hyping political STUFF. It's faux politics.
This undermines evidence based thought, and stresses automatic, emotional reactions---just what the Gop radicals feed on. We see this operating daily with overkill coverage of the slightest Trump emissions.
Compare this with the old ½ hour nightly newscast with Walter Cronkite.
Instead the outrageous candidate (s) are dominating Times campaign coverage and the op ed page. Do columnists feel if they don’t devote their columns to this week’s Trump Trash manipulation, they will loose ‘relevance’ and prestige-- ignored as not with it? But the pundits are creating this publicity wave, then they follow it.
This campaign and media coverage has been 1 big vicious cycle, magnifying the very poisonous trends it then criticizes. Big money, personalities, sensationalism, polls, then using polls to hype the candidates....etc.
Our ‘democracy’, once the positive role model is now laughable to the world.
Imitating the internet, the established media is trying to compete to get eyeballs on the public’s mobile internet. Instead of holding to journalistic standards, the main media is hyping political STUFF. It's faux politics.
This undermines evidence based thought, and stresses automatic, emotional reactions---just what the Gop radicals feed on. We see this operating daily with overkill coverage of the slightest Trump emissions.
Compare this with the old ½ hour nightly newscast with Walter Cronkite.
Instead the outrageous candidate (s) are dominating Times campaign coverage and the op ed page. Do columnists feel if they don’t devote their columns to this week’s Trump Trash manipulation, they will loose ‘relevance’ and prestige-- ignored as not with it? But the pundits are creating this publicity wave, then they follow it.
This campaign and media coverage has been 1 big vicious cycle, magnifying the very poisonous trends it then criticizes. Big money, personalities, sensationalism, polls, then using polls to hype the candidates....etc.
Our ‘democracy’, once the positive role model is now laughable to the world.
190
Well said!
Trump is the pluperfect paladin of the 21st Century Know Nothings.
A boorish, classless, bully.
This pretender to Commander in Chief, pimping more war, talking tough, in the real world is just one more republican Viet Nam draft dodging coward. Lusting to send other people's children off to slaughter.
This bankrupter of multiple casinos has left more investors holding the bag than your neighborhood grocery bagger.
This thrice married man speculates, in public, about his daughters' body and dating her.
Of course, the last republican President, a Viet Nam dodging coward too, grew up to be a war criminal who made torture USG policy, slaughtered 800,000 Iraqi civilians, and fiddled while New Orleans drowned and while banksters disappeared 40% of US household wealth somewhere in the vicinity of Wall Street.
The only question is can Trump be worse?
A boorish, classless, bully.
This pretender to Commander in Chief, pimping more war, talking tough, in the real world is just one more republican Viet Nam draft dodging coward. Lusting to send other people's children off to slaughter.
This bankrupter of multiple casinos has left more investors holding the bag than your neighborhood grocery bagger.
This thrice married man speculates, in public, about his daughters' body and dating her.
Of course, the last republican President, a Viet Nam dodging coward too, grew up to be a war criminal who made torture USG policy, slaughtered 800,000 Iraqi civilians, and fiddled while New Orleans drowned and while banksters disappeared 40% of US household wealth somewhere in the vicinity of Wall Street.
The only question is can Trump be worse?
470
Hi Craig!! 5101 here again!! Bill Clinton may not have been a "war monger" as you've previously declared but he dodged the draft just the same. He was probably just some cowardly hippie college student at the time who went to demonstrations yelling "Hell no!!! We won't go!!!" I hope after this election we can finally put the ghost of Viet Nam behind us at last. It's long overdue.
1
Craig- My daughter works for his husband's family. His aunt's father in law, the owner of the business wholeheratedly supports Trump because he is a businessman. It doesn't matter that he is a "businessman" with a history of bankruptcy, which to any thinking man would indicate that he is not too savvy a businessman, he is a BUSINESSMAN. Whether he has a history of such poor management that it led to several bankruptcies doesn't matter to this supporter. He is a businessman and that's all that counts. There are thousands more supporters just like him. How do you educate those who are so irrational? They say the same of Fiorina. She drove a thriving company to the edge of bankruptcy but she's a "businessman".
It's like that Lincoln assassination joke:
"Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?"
Can Trump be worse? Do we want to put that question to the test? And if we do will the country survive?
It's like that Lincoln assassination joke:
"Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?"
Can Trump be worse? Do we want to put that question to the test? And if we do will the country survive?
83
correction- My daughter works for her husband's family.
The NYT really NEEDS an edit function!!
The NYT really NEEDS an edit function!!
6
Sorry but Trump is NOT "the perfect candidate for the viral age". Instead, he is the perfect candidate for a seriously ill portion of the American electorate that is desperate for someone to wave a wand and solve all the problems that they perceive are the fault of the federal government. YES our country is facing a crisis of conscience but anyone that thinks that the policies of a cretin will fix them is, well, seriously ill as I have said.
168
Well the newest CNN poll finds that 75% of Americans are dissatisfied with the way the US is governed. That says a lot.
1
Conservatives are people who think that if they believe something, it is true.
Liberals are people who think that if something is true, they believe it.
Liberals are people who think that if something is true, they believe it.
49
Nice one, Joe. I'm going to have a T-shirt made up with this. And maybe a bumper sticker or two.
1
when you do, can you send me a couple?
So few people get Trump.
Been warning people don't understand Trump for a while and being a bit ahead of the curve got censored at the Krugman blog.
Funny next thing I know the same things are on the front page of then NYT and op/ed pages.
Last I checked Trump was at 39% nationally and Trump has already laid the groundwork to broaden his appeal for the general election.
Trump does understand people so well he's a master at media.
An interesting take on Trump's abilities comes from Dilbert Cartoonist Scott Adams "Trump Master Persuader Theory" which is one of the other few people who predicted Trumps rise.
He might be president if Sanders doesn't get the nomination-Reagan Democrats for Trump!
http://blog.dilbert.com/post/135653842066/and-then-this-happened-trump-p...
Been warning people don't understand Trump for a while and being a bit ahead of the curve got censored at the Krugman blog.
Funny next thing I know the same things are on the front page of then NYT and op/ed pages.
Last I checked Trump was at 39% nationally and Trump has already laid the groundwork to broaden his appeal for the general election.
Trump does understand people so well he's a master at media.
An interesting take on Trump's abilities comes from Dilbert Cartoonist Scott Adams "Trump Master Persuader Theory" which is one of the other few people who predicted Trumps rise.
He might be president if Sanders doesn't get the nomination-Reagan Democrats for Trump!
http://blog.dilbert.com/post/135653842066/and-then-this-happened-trump-p...
2
Trump is at 39% of (generously) half of the nation.
Don't scramble the math here.
Don't scramble the math here.
4
Explaining Trump in terms of going viral is like explaining why a dog eats poop by how it shakes its tail.
Trump is the culmination of decades of the Republican Party pandering to the worst hate and ignorance with the "Southern Strategy" of Goldwater, Nixon, and Reagan. The fact is the only difference between Trump and the rest of the Republican candidates is in style rather then substance.
Trump is the culmination of decades of the Republican Party pandering to the worst hate and ignorance with the "Southern Strategy" of Goldwater, Nixon, and Reagan. The fact is the only difference between Trump and the rest of the Republican candidates is in style rather then substance.
151
I never realized that going viral on the internet is an important characteristic for being the President of the United States.
26
A President's power is his ability to persuade others to act. This can happen both positively and negatively. From this lens, who in the field is even close?
1
Enough already. Iowa needs to relinquish it's hold on being first in line. It's the breeding ground of the political crazies like Trump. Time for his campaign to "die from neglect". Time for the media to suck it up and move on. Chasing ratings is one thing but helping to sustain the insanity of freighting and dangerous politicians is another. You have a responsibility to politically educate us not entertain us.
10
Please join me in a viral campaign to eliminate trump from the ether by talking about Bernie Sanders or your favorite candidates who speak of positive solutions for the world's problems.
Start right now by tweeting, texting, or sending a message here or elsewhere about someone you know who is positive about improving the plight of humanity.
Go for it!
Start right now by tweeting, texting, or sending a message here or elsewhere about someone you know who is positive about improving the plight of humanity.
Go for it!
107
As an American, I pledge my oath to the President and the Pope, the two finest humanitarians, seen in a long life. Our Country is not going to unite, and divided we will fall.
3
Miss Ley....thank you for your reply....the country's division may very well be the most significant barrier to survival....the tradition of compromise for the greater good seems to be a thing of the past
4
Scientists have developed an effective vaccine for the lethal Ebola virus. For the safety of mankind we must work overtime to stamp out Trumpitis as well. Carriers don't even know they have the disease.
17
Is this really what we have become as a nation? If Ms. Roller is correct, the country is in real trouble.
12
The NY Times and other media outlets have been forcing their version of normality down the throats of citizens.
From the lies about the gender wage gap (there is no gap: there is job choice), the lies on campus rape statistics (there is only hysteria), the elevation of Caitlyn Jenner (she is a pitiful role model), to the exaggerations of Black Lives Matter (will we really dismantle the Jefferson Memorial?), this year has been one where you journalists engaged in "I am better that thou and you will agree with us."
Can you really not see that Trump represents the vomiting of this back in your face?
You cannot "re-educate." It will not work.
"Jonah Berger and Katherine L. Milkman, professors at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, similarly found that news stories were more likely to be shared if they elicited emotions like awe, anger and anxiety."
I assume this goes for YOUR attempts to "re-educate" yes?
From the lies about the gender wage gap (there is no gap: there is job choice), the lies on campus rape statistics (there is only hysteria), the elevation of Caitlyn Jenner (she is a pitiful role model), to the exaggerations of Black Lives Matter (will we really dismantle the Jefferson Memorial?), this year has been one where you journalists engaged in "I am better that thou and you will agree with us."
Can you really not see that Trump represents the vomiting of this back in your face?
You cannot "re-educate." It will not work.
"Jonah Berger and Katherine L. Milkman, professors at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, similarly found that news stories were more likely to be shared if they elicited emotions like awe, anger and anxiety."
I assume this goes for YOUR attempts to "re-educate" yes?
12
In short I was born in NYC and lived in Los Angles and in Europe.
I am aware of the prejudice and disdain shown to the "blue collar people" in the midwest and in how often they are ridiculed by the effete liberal left (and often on shows like SNL).
While many in the urban areas built this country through finance and science and art, those people built this country through blood and sweat on the farms and in the factories.
You journalists tried to force them to accept view of life (right or wrong) on your terms, holding those people in contempt.
Now, they will vote. You journalists should have known better.
I am aware of the prejudice and disdain shown to the "blue collar people" in the midwest and in how often they are ridiculed by the effete liberal left (and often on shows like SNL).
While many in the urban areas built this country through finance and science and art, those people built this country through blood and sweat on the farms and in the factories.
You journalists tried to force them to accept view of life (right or wrong) on your terms, holding those people in contempt.
Now, they will vote. You journalists should have known better.
54
"Jonah Berger and Katherine L. Milkman, professors at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, similarly found that news stories were more likely to be shared if they elicited emotions like awe, anger and anxiety."
Hence the *success* of Fox News
Hence the *success* of Fox News
12
Whoa! As my mother used to say, when I was about to do something stupid, "Don't shoot off your nose to spite your face."
So people are going to vote in a certain way because journalists "tried to force them" to accept a particular world view.
I think journalists, and plain folks like you, dear ReaderAbroad, put thoughts and ideas in the marketplace for discussion and evaluation.
If people are going to vote based on this kind of dopey logic, I would submit that they are not responsible citizens or voters. I have read the NYT all my life. I have also read the Post through its various incarnations. I can't bear to watch either MSNBC (my team) or FOX because I can't bear ill-informed, knee-jerk blather. Mercifully, don't feel forced to watch either one.
I don't feel "forced" by anyone to consume information in any particular way.
Voting as revenge? Journalists should know better?
Micro-agression, the need to protect ourselves from distasteful ideas, putting oneself in "safe space" all combine to create an ignorant electorate who vote on the basis of perceived grievances.
People who feel aggrieved enough to vote for a Donald Trump or a Dr. Carson or, for that matter, a Ralph Nader, would likely be angry enough to shoot off their nose to....
So people are going to vote in a certain way because journalists "tried to force them" to accept a particular world view.
I think journalists, and plain folks like you, dear ReaderAbroad, put thoughts and ideas in the marketplace for discussion and evaluation.
If people are going to vote based on this kind of dopey logic, I would submit that they are not responsible citizens or voters. I have read the NYT all my life. I have also read the Post through its various incarnations. I can't bear to watch either MSNBC (my team) or FOX because I can't bear ill-informed, knee-jerk blather. Mercifully, don't feel forced to watch either one.
I don't feel "forced" by anyone to consume information in any particular way.
Voting as revenge? Journalists should know better?
Micro-agression, the need to protect ourselves from distasteful ideas, putting oneself in "safe space" all combine to create an ignorant electorate who vote on the basis of perceived grievances.
People who feel aggrieved enough to vote for a Donald Trump or a Dr. Carson or, for that matter, a Ralph Nader, would likely be angry enough to shoot off their nose to....
25
Unstoppable ? Wait until the Chairman of the joint Chiefs testifies in Congress and tears apart some idiotic idea of Trump's about sending troops to a barren wasteland halfway around the world to try to find and fight groups of hit and run fighters who don't wear red uniforms and sit together in the desert. Then what ? Have the military men and women sit there at the end of a multi-thousand mile supply line for how long ? Then what ? When the troops leave, the same thing starts all over again. And fund this how, Mr. Trump Through your tax cuts that cut basic necessities for millions of the more unfortunate ? Trump and the other republican contenders look like the final dinner table in George Orwell's "Animal Farm" where the pigs and the humans all smoking big cigars looked indistinguishable.
72
Talk about belaboring the obvious, Ms. Roller, whew … Is this piece necessary? Hardly. Will it go viral? Yawn. What's wrong with the NYT, why so much bad writing? Editors, wake up, bestir thyselves, & make a New Year's resolution … No More Tripe. Please.
19
Between Trump and the gun thing, the NYT is starting to remind me of CNN.
3
Indeed! The ultimate take away is that NYT has failed in exponential but still measurable degrees. The editors and writers (most I read here this past year, do not qualify for designation as journalists) are falling all over each other to make sure the general publics are not disabused of their notions about liberalism. NYT is not an opposition or liberal press, unless one counts the theater, arts and fashion coverage, which is still okay. I am not sure what it is, still figuring it out, but diving passed the heads, into the ledes, these are leading us on, more along the lines of the supposedly successful WAPO-style click-bait model if you ask me. This is a horrendous state of journalism we are in these days. This paper was the few holding out, but no more.
2
Yes but you all keep writing and reporting on him. Please NYT pledge to devote as many inches of column to at least the top 5 other candidates. Enough of Trump.
28
If this is true it presents an excellent opportunity to prove once again that our electoral system is designed to weed out the outliers in order to prevent unqualified people from ever taking up residence in the White House.
Our electoral system is designed to do two things with regard to this - First, it keeps us safe from the outlier candidates by preventing their nomination, and second, it prevents the outlier voters from voting in the outlier candidates.
It doesn't always do both at once, as in the 2008 election. Senator McCain and Sarah Palin were an outlier team, neither of whom were qualified to be president (McCain lacks the temperament and Palin lacks, well, everything required). Although a sizable percentage (45.7%) of the population voted for McCain/Palin, the two garnered less than half of the electoral votes of the Obama/Biden team.
I believe in our electoral system, and I believe it will prevent Trump from ever reaching the White House. I am willing to bet he won't even survive the primary process, let alone receive the nomination. If he were to receive the nomination, however, I believe that the electoral college system will prevent his election. Even if he garners a good percentage of the popular vote he won't receive the necessary electoral votes.
Trump may be popular because of his lying, ranting, and out sized claims, but in my opinion he is not qualified to be president and the electoral process will weed him out as the outlier he is. Fear not.
Our electoral system is designed to do two things with regard to this - First, it keeps us safe from the outlier candidates by preventing their nomination, and second, it prevents the outlier voters from voting in the outlier candidates.
It doesn't always do both at once, as in the 2008 election. Senator McCain and Sarah Palin were an outlier team, neither of whom were qualified to be president (McCain lacks the temperament and Palin lacks, well, everything required). Although a sizable percentage (45.7%) of the population voted for McCain/Palin, the two garnered less than half of the electoral votes of the Obama/Biden team.
I believe in our electoral system, and I believe it will prevent Trump from ever reaching the White House. I am willing to bet he won't even survive the primary process, let alone receive the nomination. If he were to receive the nomination, however, I believe that the electoral college system will prevent his election. Even if he garners a good percentage of the popular vote he won't receive the necessary electoral votes.
Trump may be popular because of his lying, ranting, and out sized claims, but in my opinion he is not qualified to be president and the electoral process will weed him out as the outlier he is. Fear not.
18
Citizen- Gee, I hope you're right. Bush didn't seem too qualified either yet he "won" twice. They are still using diebold voting machines in must win states like OH, even as more evidence comes out of fraud. I'm afraid that I don't share your optimism. Trump is playing on the right wing's fears, bigotry, anger and willful ignorance. A good friend of mine who labeled Trump an a** prior to the San Bernadino attacks has seemingly changed her attitude towards him with his "strong man" stance against Muslims. She irrationally fears Muslim terrorists more than anything else in the world and will vote for Trump or Cruz in the MA primary. She is totally dismissive of any negative facts about her candidates of choice. Sadly, there are many more like her. They will embrace a dictator as long as the ideology supports their own, constitution be damned. Trump is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve his goals, whether constitutionally or not and his supporters don't have a problem with this. The "constitutionalists" don't have a problem electing a candidate who shows very little regard for the constitution. The ends justify the means. They are caught up in some "religious" ecstasy and don't question the great and powerful Trump's policies, no matter how bat guano crazy they are such as getting Mexico to build and pay for a wall, deporting all illegals, getting China and Putin to bend to his will or how he will get things done. They believe and that's enough. God help us.
172
This is what keeps me sleeping at night. I do feel similarly; it will all become one bad dream that we had to tolerate for a long time. But at least we had Katie Couric uncovering the veil of ignorance in one fell swoop. This one's ignorance is seemingly his badge of honor.
1
Yeah. Make America great again. Make the trains run on time. Oh wait, we don't have any.
3
Trump tells people what they want to believe. I would like to see the demographics of conservatives. We have seen trumps primary followers and believers are white working men between the ages of 40 and 65, with no more than a K12 education.
That may only be 35% of the GOP voters, but it is enough to get him the nomination. He is a practicing demagogue, he repeats his falsehoods on a regular basis following the dictum in Mein Kampf. It is a sad commentary on our culture and educational system that he can be so popular.
Anger is the suppression of anxiety, it leads to irrational decisions, and the public is anxious, they are subject to forces they can not control, Trump gives them a target to take it out on. There are many like him, who believe it is manly to act tough and tell those they have come to believe is the cause of their problems that they will make them pay for it.
That is what we are hearing from Trump supporters. They have been with us right along, and Trump gives them a voice. If they should get their wish they will get even angrier, and find others to blame for it, the country will be in far worse shape that they think it is now.
That may only be 35% of the GOP voters, but it is enough to get him the nomination. He is a practicing demagogue, he repeats his falsehoods on a regular basis following the dictum in Mein Kampf. It is a sad commentary on our culture and educational system that he can be so popular.
Anger is the suppression of anxiety, it leads to irrational decisions, and the public is anxious, they are subject to forces they can not control, Trump gives them a target to take it out on. There are many like him, who believe it is manly to act tough and tell those they have come to believe is the cause of their problems that they will make them pay for it.
That is what we are hearing from Trump supporters. They have been with us right along, and Trump gives them a voice. If they should get their wish they will get even angrier, and find others to blame for it, the country will be in far worse shape that they think it is now.
15
Anger is the suppression of anxiety
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where do you people come up with these homilies and platitudes? funny stuff.
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where do you people come up with these homilies and platitudes? funny stuff.
2
Virality can tell a tale
Of minds and of thoughts that are stale,
Bigotry deep seated
Of failures repeated
A system where you are for sale!
Of minds and of thoughts that are stale,
Bigotry deep seated
Of failures repeated
A system where you are for sale!
29
"as long as stories about Mr. Trump are receiving as many eyeballs as possible, it doesn’t really matter if people are reacting negatively to him. In fact, it probably helps his popularity"
Attention is not support. It is not a vote.
Going viral and staying viral gets for free the attention that other politicians only get by spending spending millions for advertising and outreach. It is a powerful "look at me."
It will also get some votes. However, a majority of votes cast will require something more than attention, whether viral or paid advertising. On the Republican side, they are not there yet. They are still vying for attention in a crowd in the low double digits or less.
It is not demonstrated either way if viral can take a candidate to the next step, to wider support.
Wider support requires assembling diverse groups into a coalition. Can viral attention seeking do that? Any attention, even negative, is not the formula for assembling a coalition, it is the formula for blowing one apart.
But then, Trump has surprised everyone so far. Does he have that next trick up his sleeve? We won't find out quite yet, but it is coming.
Attention is not support. It is not a vote.
Going viral and staying viral gets for free the attention that other politicians only get by spending spending millions for advertising and outreach. It is a powerful "look at me."
It will also get some votes. However, a majority of votes cast will require something more than attention, whether viral or paid advertising. On the Republican side, they are not there yet. They are still vying for attention in a crowd in the low double digits or less.
It is not demonstrated either way if viral can take a candidate to the next step, to wider support.
Wider support requires assembling diverse groups into a coalition. Can viral attention seeking do that? Any attention, even negative, is not the formula for assembling a coalition, it is the formula for blowing one apart.
But then, Trump has surprised everyone so far. Does he have that next trick up his sleeve? We won't find out quite yet, but it is coming.
15
I think when the time comes and he sees what happened (i.e. Kasich rising, Paul rising), he'll just shrug and say, "I knew this would happen". On the other hand...oh my!
1
He could make it too, unless a used car salesman decides to run.